PALM SPRINGS, Calif. — The FBI says the explosion that damaged a fertility clinic in Palm Springs, Calif., was an "intentional act of terrorism."
Akil Davis, the head of the FBI's Los Angeles field office, said Saturday evening that the clinic was deliberately targeted.
He declined to elaborate on how authorities have reached a conclusion on a motive.
Authorities were still working to confirm the identity of the person who died at the scene. Davis would not directly say whether that person was the suspect but said authorities were not searching for a suspect.
Davis also said four people were hurt but provided no additional details on the severity of the injuries.
Authorities were also investigating the possibility that the explosion was being livestreamed, Davis said.
AP's earlier story follows below.
Officials in California say police and firefighters are responding to an explosion that rocked the city of Palm Springs.
The city of Palm Springs said Saturday in a social medial post that the explosion happened at 11 a.m. local time and that residents were being asked to avoid the area around North Indian Canyon Drive near East Tachevah Drive.
Investigators from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives are on their way to the scene to help assess what happened, according to spokesperson Nicole Lozano.
Dr. Maher Abdallah, who runs the American Reproductive Centers fertility clinic where the explosion occurred, told The Associated Press in a phone interview that all of his staff were safe and accounted for.
The explosion damaged the practice's office space, where it conducts consultations with patients, but left the IVF lab and all of the stored embryos there unharmed.
"I really have no clue what happened," Abdallah said. "Thank God today happened to be a day that we have no patients."
Nima Tabrizi, 37, of Santa Monica, said 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."
Palm Springs is a tony community in the desert about a two-hour drive east of Los Angeles, known for upscale resorts and a history of celebrity residents.
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