Fertility clinic bombing: Suspect taken into custody for ‘largest bombing scene in Southern California’, say officials

Debris covers the bottom after an explosion on May 17, 2025 in Palm Springs, Calif (AP picture)

US federal brokers have apprehended a suspect in reference to final month’s automotive bombing at a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, California, in accordance with statements from three regulation enforcement officials on Wednesday.Daniel Park, 32, of Kent, Washington, was taken into custody Tuesday night at New York’s John F. Kennedy Airport. Authorities have but to reveal the precise prices towards him or the extent of his involvement, in accordance with the Associated Press report.The FBI beforehand recognized Guy Edward Bartkus as the person who died in the explosion. Investigators are probing whether or not Bartkus had any accomplices in planning or executing the assault.Prosecutors in Los Angeles are anticipated to launch additional particulars throughout an upcoming press convention. NBC News was the primary to report the arrest. The regulation enforcement officials who confirmed Park’s detention spoke on situation of anonymity, citing lack of authorisation to debate the sealed case.Bartkus was reportedly affiliated with the anti-natalist motion, which opposes human copy and inhabitants progress. According to the FBI, he intentionally focused the clinic in what has been characterised as a terrorist act. Investigators imagine Bartkus tried, however failed, to livestream the explosion.The highly effective blast demolished the American Reproductive Centers facility and induced injury to adjoining buildings. Witnesses described listening to a large explosion adopted by scenes of chaos and confusion. Law enforcement officers found a physique close to a charred car exterior the clinic, later recognized as Bartkus.Authorities proceed to research Bartkus’s motives, together with why he chosen this particular location, and whether or not his loss of life was an intentional a part of the assault. The focused clinic provides a variety of fertility companies, together with in vitro fertilisation (IVF) and reproductive well being assessments.Searches carried out at Bartkus’s dwelling in Twentynine Palms, a desert city with a notable Marine Corps base, have up to now not revealed the origin of the explosives used. Officials have withheld particulars about the kind of explosives and the way they have been acquired.A senior FBI official described the incident as probably the “largest bombing scene that we’ve had in Southern California.”Former ATF explosives skilled Scott Sweetow, commenting on the case, stated the extent of the injury prompt the usage of high-grade supplies, presumably dynamite or TNT, reasonably than extra accessible substances like gunpowder. “Once you know the chemistry involved, it’s pretty easy to get stuff,” Sweetow defined. “The ingredients you could get at a grocery store.”He added that the blast pattern- spanning the road, constructing, and parking area- might have been both a deliberate design or an unintended consequence. Vehicle fragments have been reportedly hurled by the construction, finally touchdown close to a waste container.