An explosion that rocked downtown Palm Springs Saturday morning was an “intentional act of terrorism” that has left one person dead and at least four people injured, Akil Davis, assistant director of the Los Angeles FBI field office, said Saturday evening.

PALM SPRINGS, Calif. (AP) — Officials in California say police and firefighters are responding to an explosion that rocked the city of Palm Springs.

A California neighbourhood was evacuated amid dramatic scenes on Saturday as the FBI launched an investigation in Twentynine Palms over fears of a potential “blast zone”.

Investigators on Monday were combing through the writings of a 25-year-old man believed responsible for an explosion that ripped through a Southern California fertility clinic over the weekend. The FBI identified Guy Edward Bartkus as the suspect in the apparent car bomb detonation Saturday that damaged the American Reproductive Centers building in Palm Springs,