- 1 year ago
On Thursday, employees at the American Reproductive Center and Palm Springs law enforcement held a press briefing to discuss the ongoing investigation of the car bombing that occurred on May 17.
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NewsTranscript
00:00The act of violence may have destroyed our walls, but it has strengthened our inner core.
00:06Our slogan of measuring our success in heartbeats is now more than ever truer and with more meaning.
00:14Our clinic has always stood for something far greater than just science and medicine. We stand
00:19for the dreams of parents who have struggled, for the families who have fought tirelessly
00:24to bring life into this world, and for every single person who has walked through our doors
00:31with courage in their hearts and hope in their eyes. This act of violence was meant to instill
00:37fear and conducted out of sheer hatred for the very essence of what we strive for daily,
00:44to give hope. But what it ultimately did was the exact opposite. It ignited unity,
00:51resilience, and strength. We want to say this to our patients, our patients of the past,
00:58our current patients, and our future patients. We are here and we are not going anywhere.
01:05We will continue to fight with you and for you. To our incredible team of doctors,
01:13embryologists, nurses, staff, you are the heartbeat of this clinic. Your courage in
01:19the face of adversity has helped inspire us all. To the first responders who I don't have
01:25enough words to muster our thanks and our heartfelt gratitude for, who took immediate
01:30action to ensure the embryos remained safe and put that in front of their own lives when they went in,
01:37not knowing if there was going to be a second or third explosion.
01:43We are indebted to you for your courage and your quick thinking.
01:47To our community, thank you. The outpouring of support, love, and strength you've shown us
01:53reaffirms what we already knew. We are united as one. To our amazing and wonderful mayor,
02:01Mayor DeHart, our city officials that are here with us today, the police, the FBI,
02:07who immediately offered full support, found us a temporary location immediately to resume our
02:12operation and continuously continue to offer any help that we need. We thank you and we appreciate
02:18you beyond words. I'd also be remiss if I didn't also acknowledge and thank the surrounding IVF
02:26clinics who could be deemed as competitors, who reached out and chose humanity and integrity
02:33over business and competition. Thank you for your continued support, local competition,
02:38and all the IVF and fertility clinics around the country. Today we reaffirm our mission to provide
02:45the highest quality fertility care in a safe, compassionate environment with the highest levels
02:50of quality, integrity, and service. We will rebuild, we will grow, and we will continue to help families
02:58grow also. We believe in miracles. We witness them every single day and no act of hatred can stop us
03:06from bringing those miracles into this world. This year we're proud to have our best success
03:12rates in the past 26 years of operation and we will continue that very same mission.
03:18Beginning Tuesday, we will be seeing patients across the street at El Mirador building in
03:23suites 301 to 303. And again, special thanks to the amazing, amazing city, the city council,
03:30who have helped us build and turn this around in a matter of hours. We are indebted to you for that.
03:37Although we cannot stop hatred or extremist ideologies, what we can do is continue to do
03:45what we've always done, to instill hope, happiness, and love into the families that have trusted us
03:52and brought us into their homes. I thank you all once again for attending, for all of your
03:56continued support, and I assure you this is, as catastrophic as it is, as terrible as it is,
04:04as terrible as it is, this, we will bounce back from this, we will grow stronger than ever. Thank you.
04:13I would like to have the honor of bringing up our wonderful mayor,
04:16Mayor Ron DeHart, who's going to speak a couple of words also. Mayor.
04:18Good morning, everyone.
04:33This morning, I'm joined by our entire city council, our Mayor Pro Tem Naomi Soto's here,
04:39Council Member Grace Garner's here, Council Member Jeffrey Bernstein, and Council Member
04:45David Reddy, along with our City Manager Scott Stiles. So, we have united front ends of support
04:52for what's going on this weekend and everybody who's been involved.
04:56My heart overflows with gratitude for Dr. Bill Opp, a true champion for every family he serves
05:05in our community. Speaking with him over the weekend, I was profoundly moved to hear
05:11he was already tirelessly working to ensure his clients received uninterrupted care, demonstrating
05:20unwavering commitment to the families who bravely seek hope and new beginnings at the clinic.
05:27Thank you, Palm Springs, for being a place where such dedication thrives. Thank you for igniting
05:34hope in so many lives. Thank you for the deepest part of my being, for the courage
05:42that you have shown in standing steadfast against this unthinkable violence. The swift courage
05:50and response from our fire and police and emergency crews was nothing short of miraculous.
06:00Their virtual instantaneous arrival from the moment of the blast filled our community with an
06:07overwhelming sense of reassurance, reminding us that we would indeed be all right. Their presence
06:18was a powerful testament to Palm Springs' unwavering preparedness, a resounding declaration
06:27that no one will ever stand in the way of our freedom and peace. My immediate thoughts,
06:36like I know many of yours, went to the precious embryos. When I learned our firefighters who
06:44bravely entered a compromised structure intentionally to safeguard the embryos,
06:53a true wave of calm and immense relief came over me. Later, when I got to talk to Dr. Abdulla,
07:02confirming that the embryos and incubators were safe and sound, I was truly brought to tears.
07:12This is a true testament to heroism that's incredible by our firefighters and public safety.
07:23We are pouring every ounce of our collected effort into working with the state, county,
07:30regional offices to bring every possible resource to bear, ensuring our small businesses and
07:38residents recover from this event with incredible speed and strength. I had a heartfelt conversation
07:46with State Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara, who immediately connected his office
07:52with our city staff to explore every avenue of support. Our dedicated economic development team
07:59was out here on the ground Saturday afternoon, personally collecting business contacts and
08:07meeting with those in the impacted area. They were offering comfort and support and checking
08:13on their well-being. Our building team, alongside with county officials, Cal OES,
08:19all compassionately toured the affected area and they are diligently finalizing a list of
08:26impacted properties to fully understand the estimated cost of the damages. We are also
08:33tirelessly working with Cal OES, the county EMD, and our local team to determine the eligibility
08:40for the economic disaster loans that may be available through the SBA. We are bringing
08:47every available resource to our community. In the coming days, our city council will be
08:55reviewing and approving vital support programs, including the creation of a disaster overlay zone
09:01to define the area with visible damage from the attack. This will allow businesses and property
09:07owners to be eligible for significantly reduced building permit fees, planning application fees,
09:15and potentially business license fees. We will also expedite the building permits,
09:22planning entitlements, and business license and inspection process to ensure smooth and swift
09:30recovery. Furthermore, the LGBTQ community center of the desert will continue to provide
09:37invaluable community counseling, extending their compassionate support to all community members,
09:45employers, and employees who may desire it. Our community will forever remain
09:56the vibrant Palm Springs that the country loves. We offer a warm welcome.
10:05We embrace diversity, and we profoundly care about everyone around us. This act will not,
10:16and it cannot, and it will never deter us. Love always triumphs in Palm Springs,
10:25and our incredible community is showcasing its unwavering resolve,
10:31stepping up with open hearts and contributing to the Rebuild Palm Springs fundraiser, which will
10:39bring immediate and direct relief to those most impacted by the blast. Thank you, Dr. Abdullah,
10:48for your incredible leadership. Thank you to our brave police and fire departments, to the FBI,
10:56and most profoundly, thank you to Palm Springs for embracing one another with such boundless
11:05love and support. Thank you, Mayor. I'd also like to bring up our next speaker, our Mayor Pro Tempore,
11:20Ms. Naomi Soto. Good morning, good morning. Today is the first of many good days that we need to
11:35feel in our city. Dr. Abdullah and his staff are staying here in Palm Springs for the American
11:41Productive Centers to continue their important, incredible work. Their work literally brings new
11:48life into this world, new life into our city. Their work builds our, creates our future residents,
11:55our future neighbors, our future community members, and we are so proud and so grateful
12:00that they have chosen to stay and will be continuing their work. As a city, we will continue
12:06to work closely with Dr. Abdullah and your whole team to do whatever it takes to make the transition
12:11as seamless as possible, to going from a destroyed building to a new home,
12:18to providing immediate care for your patients.
12:23Dr. Abdullah's decision to stay here is monumental, and we are grateful for the speed of everyone who
12:27worked on this, from our economic development team who was showing you sites and options, to the staff
12:34and administration at Desert Regional Medical Center who did not hesitate to show Dr. Abdullah's
12:40space options literally within, I think, a couple hours, to moving contracts in breathtaking speeds.
12:48This is work that is moving incredibly, incredibly fast, because if you know at the center of it
12:53are patients and families that want to continue their care and need to. So thank you, thank you,
13:00thank you to everyone. On a personal level, as a mom of two small kids, I know many, many
13:06current and former patients of ARC who are breathing with the,
13:13can breathe a bit more of a full heart to know that this city has their back.
13:20And just briefly to close, the decision to stay, to continue to work so immediately,
13:25is an act of courage, one of many acts of bravery that we've seen in the last few days,
13:30from our firefighters and police officers who ran towards the blast, from the firefighters
13:35who put out the fire, the public safety workers who saved the embryos and other reproductive materials.
13:41It took all of us to realize what at the center of this was the heart of Palm Springs,
13:47this is a health care block, right, there's medical offices surrounding us, we have to
13:54make sure that Palm Springs feels safe and everyone can deserve to get the care that they need.
14:00This weekend, hate failed. This week, hope wins. This community, as the mayor mentioned,
14:09is not broken and we are more united than ever and we'll do everything we can for this practice
14:14and for all the facilities nearby. Thank you so much.
14:18Thank you, Mayor Pro Tem. I would like to also bring a gentleman that I had just met a little
14:24while ago, who just by speaking with him you can distinguish his valor, his commitment to our
14:30community and why the response was what it was, our Chief of Police, Mr. Andrew Mills.
14:37This is an amazing opportunity, Dr. Balof, thank you so much to you and your staff for
14:41was our Chief of Police, Mr. Andrew Mills.
14:57This is an amazing opportunity, Dr. Abdullah, thank you so much to you and your staff for
15:01the commitment you have to our community.
15:04We have moved now from an incident containment problem to now to an investigation that is
15:12still ongoing, but more importantly, to now bring hope, as the Mayor Pro Tempore said
15:19to our community.
15:20Now is the time to rebuild, and Dr. Abdullah, you and your staff are a key element in that
15:27rebuilding process.
15:29Research shows that 23% of the community experience depression and PTSD after a mass
15:36casualty incident.
15:38Now is the time for us to bring that hope back, because love is alive in Palm Springs.
15:50We have several council members here with us, one who we have the honor of speaking
15:55today, Council Member Jeffrey Bernstein, please.
16:02Okay, well, there's not a lot I can add to the beautiful words of our Mayor and Mayor
16:13Pro Tem and Police Chief, but what I do want to say is that when Palm Springs goes through
16:19difficult times, we truly see the best in our city come out.
16:24And you heard about the bravery of our police and fire, but what was so important was the
16:30sensitivity in which they handled, how they handled and spoke about the importance of
16:35this facility in our community, and that was recognized nationally.
16:41Our state and county and regional officials have been offering their support, knowing
16:46what a vital city Palm Springs is.
16:49As you heard, our economic development team has been out working with all of our businesses
16:54that have been affected by this, and offering nonstop support.
16:59Our council and staff have risen to this occasion in a way that makes us all truly proud, and
17:05that's thanks to our police chief, our fire chief, our city manager, and every other employee
17:10of our city.
17:12You heard about a lot of the work that's going to be coming over the next few days and weeks
17:16to come, and our city will still continue to shine, and the best will continue to come
17:22out.
17:24As you heard, our LGBTQ center will offer counseling and help, and they're actually
17:28one of the businesses that was hurt by this.
17:31They had 15 of their windows blown out from the blast, and while they seek to recover,
17:36they're offering their help to let the city recover.
17:40And most importantly through all of this is that our city came out in a way that's never
17:45been seen.
17:46It's almost something that we should not forget, and we should remember forever, and how they
17:50came to assist Dr. Abdullah and his operation of the American Reproductive Center to transition
17:57to a new location where they can continue to serve our region with the important and
18:01hope-filled work they conduct for our community.
18:04They bring hope and life to so many, and when Palm Springs suffers hard times, it never
18:09ceases to amaze me how our community comes out to give life and new hope to all of us.
18:15Our community will continue to be a place that welcomes all and comes together in hard
18:20times.
18:22Before I do bring up Dr. Abdullah, if I could please ask our ARC staff to come up, all of
18:35our wonderful staff.
18:36If I could bring up all of our council members, all of our dignitaries, mayor, pro tem mayor,
18:43chief of police, if you could please come up.
18:46Please come up and join us on stage.
18:50This is the kind of support that this community has.
19:14From the moment that this incident happened, these are the men and women that have offered
19:23their unconditional support.
19:25The community of Palm Springs, people from all over the country have helped.
19:33I'm hesitant to say this, and I'm going to say it, Dr. Abdullah was supposed to be in
19:42that office.
19:47He was supposed to be sitting in that office at 11 o'clock.
19:52He had a meeting, and he ended up taking it on the road, and that very blast site was
19:59where he was sitting.
20:02He is my business partner, but he is my best friend.
20:05He is my cousin.
20:06We grew up together, and it's often, it's common to have our staff working on Saturday,
20:17checking on the embryos, doing paperwork, preparing for the next week.
20:20It was an act of God that nobody was there.
20:24Not one of our staff showed up.
20:26The unfortunate mishap of the four or five individuals that were hurt, by the grace of
20:30God, they were released, and no major implications, no major injuries.
20:37So if there's anybody that should be remorseful, angry, upset, it would be Dr. Abdullah.
20:43But he reminded me of why he is who he is, and what his leadership is.
20:49I was livid when this happened.
20:51First of all, after my shock wore down, I said, you know, how could this happen?
20:55Who did it?
20:56How did it happen?
20:57I said, you know, something has to be done.
20:58I said, listen, you need to calm down, and, you know, this is all, everything happens
21:02by the grace of God.
21:05Nothing is a mistake.
21:06This young man was misguided.
21:09I don't blame him.
21:10I forgive him.
21:13He asked me to reach out to his family and to pay for his funeral services.
21:17I told him, you are such a better man than I am.
21:20But that tells you who Dr. Abdullah is, what life means to him, what this clinic that he's
21:25built over the past 20 plus years, his whole livelihood of schooling and education and
21:30further education, that's who he is.
21:33That's what this practice is built off of.
21:34It is my honor to bring up the medical director, the founder, my cousin, Dr. Ammar Abdullah.
21:43Well, you know, this is not something that you prepare for, and honestly, I have nothing
21:54prepared.
21:55I just want to say that I'm thankful that my staff, my patients, all the embryos are
22:00safe.
22:01And I'm also thankful that for the first responders and all they've done, risking their lives
22:08to save embryos, stressing that we all value life.
22:14As a reproductive endocrinologist in the United States, I assess my success with how many
22:19families I help go home with a child.
22:22And I'm very critical of myself.
22:24I look at my pregnancy rates and I always aim for higher.
22:28And that's really how I assess my performance.
22:33My return on the investment is babies.
22:36It's nothing else.
22:37So this material loss over there with destroyed buildings, all four of them will need to obviously
22:43be demolished and replaced.
22:45It doesn't mean much to me.
22:47Life is preserved.
22:48And that's really all I care about.
22:50We will rebuild, and I promise you we'll be on the same site, and it will be better
22:55than ever before.
22:56I have no doubt that we will bounce back better than anything before, and we will succeed.
23:04I'm very appreciative of the city council, the mayor, and all they've done helping us
23:08get a space right away.
23:10On Tuesday, we'll be up and running again.
23:13The past couple of weeks, one of the local physicians, Dr. Ilbeggi, was gracious enough
23:17to allow me to use his office so that we can do basic ultrasounds.
23:22So we continued seeing patients, even on Monday morning after the Saturday attack.
23:27We served our patients.
23:28We did not stop.
23:30Our phone numbers were obviously, our phones were destroyed.
23:34We came up with ways to still help patients.
23:38We will return, and we will be better than ever before.
23:41I have no doubt.
23:44This did not derail our project, like Dr. Amr said, 2025 was our best year, because
23:49we really invested in that building to create what we call a perfect vacuum, a perfect environment
23:55for the embryos.
23:57And that really showed in what happened, and that we had embryos still dividing in the
24:02incubators, and five days later, we looked at those embryos, and through a miracle, eight
24:10of them were perfect, what we call blastocysts, 4AA perfect embryos.
24:15I guarantee that the patient that has those embryos will go home with a child, personally
24:20guarantee it.
24:22This is a miracle.
24:23Four buildings were destroyed, one building remained standing.
24:28Even the frames on the wall were not affected.
24:30How does that happen?
24:32It's a miracle for life.
24:34I'm grateful.
24:35I'm thankful.
24:36I can't think of anything more.
24:38We will rebuild, bounce back, come back better than ever before.
24:42Material damage does not affect me in any way, and I don't even think about it.
24:47As far as the perpetrator of this, I do forgive him.
24:50I wish his family the best, and we all pray for them.
24:54And I instructed my staff not to look back, but to look ahead.
24:58No one is allowed to talk about the person who did this.
25:02This is about forgiveness, this is about life, and we'll carry on.
25:14While I have members of the council and the city and doctor up here, I know there were
25:18several questions from the media.
25:20If anybody has any questions, we will direct them to anybody here.
25:23If not, we will conclude the press conference.
25:25Are there any questions from the media?
25:26Yes, sir.
25:27I wonder if Dr. Petrello, what have you learned about your staff in these last few days?
25:33Well, first of all, I realized that they're very resilient, very hardworking.
25:39They're united as a family.
25:42This is not a group of people working together.
25:44We really act and behave like family members, and it really made a difference to me.
25:51And you know, when the first call I got, they said someone is deceased.
25:55So the first thing I thought about is that I lost an employee.
26:03Thank God, it worked out.
26:08Yes, ma'am.
26:10Dr. Petrello, did you have the miracle that one building was left intact?
26:14Something that contained the embryos in a...
26:20The building was not intact.
26:22The IVF lab within the building was intact.
26:25Everything else is very much destroyed.
26:29And again, how does that happen?
26:31It's really a miracle.
26:33And then what really saved those embryos was the fire department, the police officers,
26:38and the FBI agents on the case.
26:40They really went in there and made sure that we have the electricity back.
26:44And they saved the embryos.
26:46So this was really teamwork where...
26:50You see, the embryos were in cryotanks.
26:52The cryotanks were preserved.
26:54And there were embryos in the incubator that needed electricity.
26:57And the FBI working with the police department and the fire department,
27:02Mr. Lott from the fire department and others,
27:05I can't think of names at this moment,
27:07they really made it happen where they saved those embryos.
27:11When I looked at those embryos and we took pictures,
27:13the best embryos all year,
27:15I knew that God is on the side of good.
27:23Yes, sir.
27:24When you talk about this perpetrator's ideology,
27:27the fact that he's against crime,
27:29against people hurting people,
27:31how do you feel about that?
27:33I really have nothing to say about his ideology.
27:35I know what our ideology is.
27:37We don't even look back.
27:39We're for life.
27:40We're helping families have kids.
27:42Our success is in how many children we help bring to this world.
27:46I really don't care much about his ideology.
27:49And the last thing I want to do is promote it.
27:51It means nothing to me.
27:54Yes, ma'am.
27:55Have those embryos been moved?
27:57Oh, thank you.
27:58Have those embryos been moved at all?
28:00I know you said the building and the incubators were okay,
28:02but have they been moved to where you guys are setting up now?
28:05So the embryos that were in the incubator
28:08were frozen in the cryotanks,
28:10meaning they're secure.
28:12And, you know, this is a process.
28:15It's not just like moving offices.
28:17There's a lot that goes with it.
28:19So working with Desert Regional and the city and the mayor
28:23and the council members, all of them,
28:25we were able to quickly get space across the street.
28:28And that space will be ready within a couple of days
28:32so that everything is there.
28:35So by Sunday, the cryotanks will be moved.
28:40And by Tuesday, we'll be answering our phones
28:42and we'll continue with our mission.
28:45All right, that's amazing.
28:46I have one more question.
28:47Sure.
28:48Following the blast, we saw several people's medical records,
28:51ultrasounds kind of flying up and down the street.
28:54Is there anything you guys are doing to make sure
28:56that those records haven't been compromised?
28:59We were turning a lot of them into the police.
29:01What are you guys doing to make sure
29:03that that information stays safe?
29:04Fortunately for us, we have a lot of records on EMR.
29:07But, you know, when patients come in for ultrasounds
29:10or, you know, quick services, there may be some papers still.
29:13The police has been returning just about anything they find.
29:17And some of the items were found far away from the location
29:21because this was obviously a powerful explosion.
29:24I think the lesson learned is to really limit paper.
29:28And it's really hard in our field
29:30in that patients come in for monitoring sometimes daily.
29:33But we will...
29:34Our focus from this point on will be to limit paper
29:38where it's all electronic.
29:40And, you know, obviously, everything will change
29:43in terms of security and everything else.
29:45So it will be a lot of changes.
29:48Yes, ma'am.
29:49Can we clarify, I think, just a follow-up
29:51to her first question?
29:52So where are the frozen specimens right now?
29:55And when you were talking about the embryos
29:58that became blastocysts
29:59and they were looking really good,
30:01can you elaborate on just how many specimens
30:04were frozen that were saved that day?
30:07Sure.
30:08We have...
30:09We had 14 dividing embryos.
30:13And from the 14 dividing embryos,
30:158 became blastocysts, perfect blastocysts,
30:18which is consistent with our normal conversion
30:21from cleavage embryo to blastocyst embryo.
30:24And what really made this unusual
30:27is for me to see perfection.
30:29Usually out of 8 embryos,
30:30you may have 2 or 3 that are perfect.
30:32All of them were perfect, 4AA and 5AA embryos.
30:35I've never seen such a cohort of embryos.
30:38So this is all, you know, a blessing.
30:41The embryos are secure in the cryotanks
30:43in a secure location.
30:45And on Sunday,
30:46they'll be in our new office across the street.
30:51Yes, ma'am?
30:52Sir, when you say across the street,
30:53do you mean a designated room?
30:55This is the El Mirador building,
30:57suites 301, 302, and 303.
31:00And it's being renovated now.
31:03They're working 24-7 to make it happen.
31:06At the hospital?
31:07It's not the hospital.
31:08It's a private...
31:09Well, it's a medical building.
31:10I see.
31:11Yeah, next to the hospital.
31:13Got it.
31:14And then you also mentioned that...
31:16I mean, I imagine that your...
31:18that security will be changed moving forward.
31:20Can you talk a little bit
31:21about what you're thinking about
31:22in terms of security
31:23either of the building
31:24or of the actual embryos?
31:26Sure.
31:27Well, first of all,
31:28in terms of security in general,
31:29I mean, we have almost 28 cameras.
31:31So there's no corridor that goes missed
31:33in that complex.
31:36We are, you know, 4 buildings,
31:38so there's a lot of space.
31:40But moving forward,
31:41anywhere we go,
31:42we will have personnel for security
31:45as well present 24-7,
31:47not just cameras.
31:49The embryos are very well protected.
31:51The cryotanks have, like,
31:5310 cameras facing them.
31:54They're secure.
31:55They're chained.
31:56I mean, there's just so much security.
31:58We have 24-7 alarms and so on.
32:01So there isn't much
32:02that could be done with that,
32:04but I definitely want to add
32:05personnel to be present
32:08and hopefully, you know, guards present
32:11on the premises moving forward.
32:14I'm not going to change how I live.
32:15I'm not going to look behind my back
32:17thinking, you know, or worry.
32:19I'm just going to have good security
32:21and live a normal life moving forward.
32:26Yes, ma'am.
32:27Quick question.
32:28I'm just trying to clarify the numbers
32:31of the cryogenic material.
32:33So I know you mentioned you had 8 embryos.
32:35Were they all from one family
32:36or were those multiple families
32:37that were going through the blastocyst process
32:38at the time?
32:39And then, I don't know,
32:40do you also store eggs
32:42and already frozen embryos
32:44and things like that
32:45that weren't going through
32:46the blastocyst process right now?
32:47Correct.
32:48You know, I'm just wondering
32:49how many families had their hopes
32:50sort of in that building
32:52at the time of this blast?
32:53Sure.
32:54We have frozen eggs,
32:55frozen sperm,
32:56and frozen embryos in the thousands,
32:58and they were all cryopreserved.
33:00The cryotanks were untouched.
33:02As far as the 14 embryos that we had,
33:06which were 8 converted
33:07to perfect blastocysts,
33:09that belonged to one family.
33:13Palm Springs has a large same-sex couples
33:16and it happened to belong
33:18to that same community
33:20that we support.
33:21And the intent is to use
33:24even a surrogate of those embryos.
33:27But they're perfect
33:28and I have no doubt
33:29that we will have success.
33:30My goodness.
33:31They got 8.
33:32My goodness.
33:33That's a lot of infertility.
33:34That is correct.
33:35That is correct.
33:36Yes.
33:37It was a miracle.
33:38Doctor, have you personally spoken
33:40to the family of the suspect?
33:43No, I did not.
33:48Those 28 cameras,
33:50are those all being
33:51a part of the investigation now?
33:53Correct.
33:54So all the cameras
33:56and the servers,
33:58there's only 5 of them.
33:59They're all with the FBI.
34:05You're kind of stated
34:06that you've been in the building
34:07prior to the explosion happening.
34:12What kind of got you
34:13to leave the building
34:14and leave
34:15when you should have been there?
34:16I was not in the building.
34:17I was supposed to be
34:19for the past 3 months.
34:21I've been coming at 11 a.m.
34:22and the reason why
34:23I come at 11 a.m.
34:24is the mailman drops the mail at 11
34:27so I come in
34:28and I do paperwork
34:29related to that mail
34:30and then I take off
34:31for the weekend.
34:32I decided that day
34:33not to be here.
34:35I happened to be
34:36out of town
34:37and I continued
34:38to see family members
34:40elsewhere.
34:41The mailman, however,
34:42did come at 11 a.m.
34:44and I did see
34:46his car or truck
34:48still there.
34:50So he did come at 11
34:52and fortunately for all of us
34:54he's alive and well.
34:58Is he one of the injured?
34:59I'm sorry?
35:00Is he one of the injured?
35:01I am not sure.
35:03Yeah, I mean,
35:05I know his truck was there
35:07when this was taking place
35:09so I'm not sure how
35:11exactly it happened.
35:15Yes?
35:16It was mentioned that
35:17you had offered to pay for
35:19to pay for the funeral services
35:21of the suspect.
35:22Is that correct?
35:26That is correct.
35:27I did as much diligence as I could
35:29and I found a phone number
35:30that seems that
35:31it was the right number
35:32to, I believe it was
35:33the mother and the sister.
35:35I did leave a message
35:36and we wish them all the best.
35:41Thank you all very much.
35:42Thank you to everybody
35:43here that came to support.
35:44Thank you for your continued
35:45support for our beautiful city.
35:47All the press, everybody here.
35:48Thank you all.
35:49God bless.
35:50Have a great weekend.