FBI arrests suspect connected to Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing
US Attorney Bill Essayli, at podium with Akil Davis, the assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office (left), answers questions during a news conference in Los Angeles, Wednesday, June 4, 2025. A suspect connected to last month’s explosion at a fertility clinic in Palm Springs has been arrested by the FBI at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York. (AP Photo/Damian Dovarganes)
PALM SPRINGS (CNS) – A suspect connected to last month’s explosion at a fertility clinic in Palm Springs has been arrested by the FBI at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York, according to media reports Wednesday.
The arrest took place Tuesday night, law enforcement officials told The Associated Press, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss a criminal case that has not been publicly disclosed. The Los Angeles Times reported similar accounts of the arrest of a suspect connected to the bombing, identifying him as 32-year-old Daniel Park of Kent, Washington, according to a source the newspaper did not name.
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Federal authorities were expected to say more at a news conference later Wednesday morning.
The clinic, at 1199 N. Indian Canyon Drive, was hit with a bombing shortly before 11 a.m on May 17, in which only the bomber was killed.
Guy Edward Bartkus, 25, of Twentynine Palms, was identified as the suspect killed in the explosion. Bartkus was believed to have authored an “anti pro-life manifesto” and was motivated by disdain for families and childbirth in general, the FBI announced.
Embryos and other lab-preserved endowments are maintained at the clinic, which sustained extensive damage. There was additionally collateral damage to several buildings in the immediate vicinity, according to the FBI.
Four people were hurt, but there were no reports of life-threatening injuries.
Despite the blast, clinic staff and first responders reacted quickly, reportedly saving most of the eggs used for in-vitro treatments.
Authorities have been investigating if Bartkus had any help executing the explosion.
The explosion was called the “largest bombing scene that we’ve had in Southern California” by FBI officials.
Bartkus tried to livestream the explosion and left behind writings that communicated “nihilistic ideations,” the FBI said. U.S. Attorney Bill Essayli, the top federal prosecutor in the area, called the message “anti-pro-life.” (CNS)
