Over 40,000 people were left without power in North Carolina after two substations were damaged by gunfire on Saturday, the police said.
A targeted attack on two power substations left tens of thousands of residents in Moore County in the dark and cold, and many are worried about potential security weaknesses in the larger power grid.
DEVELOPING: Mass blackout after substations ‘sabotaged’ in Moore County, North Carolina#Moore l #NC
— Intel Point Alert (@IntelPointAlert) December 4, 2022
Police confirm several substations have failed as a result of individuals shooting equipment throughout the county. 38,000+ residents remain without power at this time. pic.twitter.com/SibuWGFP09
“Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields reports that the mass power outage across the county is being investigated as a criminal occurrence,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post. “Just after 7 pm on Saturday evening, December 3, 2022, several different communities across Moore County began experiencing power outages.”
“As utility companies began responding to the different substations, evidence was discovered that indicated that intentional vandalism had occurred at multiple sites,” the sheriff’s office continued.
US Rep. Richard Hudson also confirmed on Sunday that the two substations were vandalized “with criminal intent.” Police have referred to the vandalism as an “act of violence.”
Due to the massive power outage, the county will implement a mandatory curfew from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m. beginning on Sunday.
“[Municipality and county officials] have formed a plan for the night and the next few nights that we may be out of power. It’s a very serious situation,” county sheriff Ronnie Fields said at a news conference on Sunday. “So we’ve come to an agreement to best protect our citizens and to protect the businesses of our county, we’re going to implement a curfew tonight.”
Gov. Roy Cooper said during a press briefing on Monday that state law enforcement would join the investigation.
“I’m always concerned about critical infrastructure, and I think we need to learn from this incident — because these kinds of things cannot happen,” Cooper said. “I do think we need to take a long-term view about making sure our critical infrastructure is hardened. We’ll be talking with state and federal officials about that as we move forward.”
Anyone with information about the incident is being asked to contact the Moore County Sheriff’s Office at (910) 947 2931. Moore County is in central North Carolina, about 50 miles northwest of Fayetteville.
