2025 Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing

2025 Palm Springs fertility clinic bombing
230m 251yds
Location	American Reproductive Centers in Palm Springs 1199 North Indian Canyon Drive, Palm Springs, California, United States
Coordinates	33°50′21″N 116°32′45″W
Date	May 17, 2025 10:52 a.m. (PDT)
Attack type	Domestic terrorism, Suicide bombing
Weapon	Car bomb
Deaths	1 (the perpetrator)
Injured	4
Perpetrator	Guy Edward Bartkus
Motive	Suicidal ideation, promortalism, antinatalism, "anti-pro-life ideology", efilism

On May 17, 2025, a car bombing occurred at a reproductive center in Palm Springs, California, United States, leaving one person near the vehicle, later confirmed to be the perpetrator, dead and four others injured. The explosion was described as one of the largest bombing investigations that the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has investigated in Southern California since the Aliso Viejo package bombing that killed one person and seriously injured two others in 2018. The perpetrator was identified as Guy Edward Bartkus, a 25-year-old man from Twentynine Palms, California. He was the only person killed in the attack, and his motives stemmed from the ideologies of promortalism, "anti-pro-life", and efilism.

Background

The American Reproductive Centers in Palm Springs is a fertility clinic operated by American Reproductive Centers, which provides in vitro fertilization, genetic testing, and egg donation services. It is the only facility with full service in the Coachella Valley, located near the Desert Regional Medical Center at 1199 North Indian Canyon Drive.

Bombing

On May 17, 2025 at 10:52 a.m. PDT, a 2010 silver Ford Fusion sedan exploded in the parking lot behind a fertility clinic building. The bombing occurred outside the clinic's weekday business hours, and a doctor at the clinic reported that no staff members were harmed, nor were the clinic's essential medical operations. Videos posted online showed one of the clinic's buildings with a large hole in a wall and other damage to the structure. Nearby buildings were damaged and windows were shattered. A tripod and camera were found at the scene. One person near the vehicle was killed, and four others were injured. The deceased individual has been identified as the bomber, 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus. Video and witnesses reported seeing what looked like human remains on a road outside of the building. The blast was felt more than 1 mile (1.6 km) away from the clinic.

Later that day, assistant director of the Los Angeles FBI field office Akil Davis confirmed that the explosion was caused by a car bomb and was being considered an "intentional act of terrorism". Davis also stated that the FBI had a person of interest but were not searching for a person at that time.

Perpetrators and investigation

Photograph of Bartkus released by the FBI

FBI officials identified 25-year-old Guy Edward Bartkus (September 1999 – May 17, 2025), a former computer technician from Twentynine Palms, California, with childhood ties to Waterbury, Connecticut, as the suspected perpetrator of the bombing; they described him as having "nihilistic views". Bartkus reportedly identified himself as the perpetrator of the bombing in a video posted online, in which he described himself as a "pro-mortalist", saying in a manifesto that people did not give consent to exist. He also reportedly left a 30-minute audio recording in which he explained his reasoning for the attack. The FBI stated after the fact that Bartkus was not on their radar. During a news conference on May 18, FBI officials stated that Bartkus was the person killed during the attack.

Bartkus was raised in Yucca Valley, California, where he had a habit on building toy rockets as a child, playing with matches, and making smoke bombs. At the age of 9, Bartkus accidentally burned down his family's house while playing with one of the matches. Bartkus later resided in Twentynine Palms after his parents were divorced in 2012.

About a month prior to the bombing, Bartkus's friend in Fox Island, Washington, Sophie Tinney, died after she had allegedly convinced her boyfriend to kill her in her sleep. According to reports, Bartkus and Tinney had made pact "that if one of them died, the other would soon follow." On a "pro-mortalist" website Bartkus went on before the bombing, he wrote that main motivation for his decision to bomb the fertility clinic was suicide. Bartkus left a 30-minute audio recording explaining his motive for the alleged attack, saying "I figured I would just make a recording explaining why I've decided to bomb an IVF building, or clinic," he said. "Basically, it just comes down to I'm angry that I exist and that, you know, nobody got my consent to bring me here." Bartkus also stated his intent to start "a war against pro-lifers".

The same day as the bombing, the FBI and San Bernardino County Sheriff's Department executed a search warrant and evacuated dozens of homes on or near Adobe Road in Twentynine Palms in connection to the investigation.

According to Bartkus's father, when Bartkus was a child, he would "tinker with small model rockets" and once set their home on fire while playing with matches. As a teen, Bartkus made "smoke bombs" and "stink bombs" but never anything "major."

On the evening of June 3, 2025, FBI agents arrested a second man at New York City's John F. Kennedy International Airport after being extradited by Polish authorities. According to authorities, the individual was quickly identified as 32-year-old Daniel Jongyon Park (born January 1992) of Kent, Washington, who also had ties to the Seattle suburb of Lynnwood. Officials replied that he may have provided material support, but wasn't clear if they knew anything about the bombing. He was expelled from Poland to face prosecution on the United States.

Investigators later learned that Park spent two weeks visiting Bartkus in Twentynine Palms from January 25 to February 8, stating that they're "running experiments in Bartkus' garage", right after Park sent the first shipments containing 180 pounds of ammonium nitrate to Bartkus in January beforehand. Shortly before the bombing, Park bought another 90 pounds of the chemical and had it shipped to Bartkus days before the bombing. Park then fled the United States to Warsaw four days after the bombing on May 21, where he remained until his extradition the following week on May 30. Park was charged with providing material support to a terrorist after allegedly supplying explosive materials to Bartkus.

Federal investigators allege that Park, who shared the same ideology as Barkus, had been posting anti-natalist ideologies on internet forums dating back to 2016. Following the investigation, authorities immediately searched Park's home in Kent, located 20 miles (32 km) south of Seattle, and found "an explosive recipe that was similar to the Oklahoma City bombing." According to a complaint, Park purchased ammonium nitrate online in several purchases between October 2022 and May 2025.

Reactions

Bartkus's 75-year-old father told The New York Times that he hadn't seen his son since he left to live with his mother in Twentynine Palms in 2013. He said he was shocked when a relative told him that his son was implicated in the bombing. He described his son as a "good-hearted" young man who worked monitoring special-needs children on school buses, and was also a "computer whiz" who built his own computers as early as the age of 9. He also described him as always "impressionable" and had often allowed himself to be "drawn in by friends who got him into trouble," mentioning a time when one of Bartkus's friends, whose parents owned a demolition yard, talked him into smashing cars there.

Brian Levin, founder of the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism and professor emeritus at Cal State San Bernardino, opined that Bartkus appeared to be "part of a growing group of radicalized lone wolves influenced by dark websites", stating that they've seen mostly young men, including some related to past childhood incidents and a handful related to the rise of misandry, acting out "grievances as part of a broad movement sometimes or obscure ones towards an anti-life movement".

California Governor Gavin Newsom said he and his wife were "keeping everyone affected in [their] hearts".

Reddit banned its r/efilism subreddit, a community which had over 10,000 members, for violating its rules against inciting violence. Bartkus had directly mentioned several Reddit communities, including r/efilism, in his writings.