The FBI and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) responded to a car explosion on Saturday, May 17, that left at least one person dead and five injured at a reproductive center in Palm Springs, California. Lt. William Hutchinson with the Palm Springs Police Department told The Palm Springs Post it was a bomb in or near a vehicle parked at the building.
The American Reproductive Centers (ARC) provides in vitro fertilization (IVF) and other reproductive treatments. It is the only full-service facility of its kind in the Coachella Valley, with a facility in Loma Linda being the next closest. The center was closed at the time.
“We are immensely grateful to share that no members of the ARC team were harmed, and our lab — including all eggs, embryos, and reproductive materials — remains fully secure and undamaged,” the center posted on Facebook. “We are heavily conducting a complete safety inspection and have confirmed that our operations and sensitive medical areas were not impacted by the blast.”
California Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office posted on X that the governor has been briefed and state authorities are coordinating with local and federal teams.
Nima Tabrizi, 37, of Santa Monica told the Associated Press he was inside a cannabis dispensary nearby when he felt a massive explosion.
“The building just shook, and we go outside and there’s massive cloud smoke,” Tabrizi said. “Crazy explosion. It felt like a bomb went off….We went up to the scene, and we saw human remains.”
Officials said they are not ruling out the incident being an “act of terrorism,” the Desert Sun reported.
