North Carolina county under curfew after gun attack on 2 substations cuts power to 45,000
Residents of Moore County, North Carolina, were under curfew Sunday night and school was canceled Monday after a group or person shot up and badly damaged two power substations Saturday night. "The person who did this knew what they were doing," Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said at a news conference Sunday. "It appears they were trying to shut down the county."
"I can promise you, to the perpetrators out there, we will find you," Fields said.
The attack, which began at about 7 p.m. on Saturday, left 45,000 households and business without power, and roughly 35,000 remained without power Sunday night, said Duke Energy, whose equipment was damaged in the attack. The utility said it could take until Thursday to restore power across the county. In the meantime, residents, businesses, hospitals, and the town of Southern Pines are relying generators to maintain basic or essential services.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"You can hear generators running in every direction," Andrew Wilkins, visiting his parents in Whispering Pines, told The Fayetteville Observer. He added that with WiFi and cellphone service down, there's also a "huge information blackout" in much of the county.
Fields said law enforcement is still trying to determine a motive for the attack, which his office is treating as an act of criminal vandalism. When asked about widespread speculation the attack was intended to shut down a drag show in Southern Pines targeted by right-wing groups, he said "anything's possible, but we've not been able to tie anything back to the drag show." The show went on for 45 minutes after the lights went out, and attendees described it as a success, the Observer reports.
"No group has stepped up to acknowledge or accept that they're the ones that done it," Fields said. "I call them cowards is what I call them." He said the FBI, the State Bureau of Investigation, and law enforcement in the county's 11 municipalities are working "as a team" to investigate the incident.
After a 2013 sniper attack on an electrical substation in Silicon Valley, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission began requiring power utilities to better protect large substations that could knock out parts of the U.S. power grid, The Wall Street Journal reports. "FERC's new rule didn't immediately include tens of thousands of smaller substations."
Create an account with the same email registered to your subscription to unlock access.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
'Cure for Trump amnesia might be his NY trial'
Today's Newspapers A roundup of the headlines from the US front pages
By The Week Staff Published
-
Tesla cuts prices in 'intensifying' EV war
Speed Read Electric vehicle giant has struggled in the face of weakening demand, competition from China and technical setbacks
By Arion McNicoll, The Week UK Published
-
Four Seasons Resort Bali at Jimbaran Bay: unwind at this picture-perfect resort
The Week Recommends The retreat that's ideal for recharging your batteries while experiencing life on an Indonesian island
By Yasemen Kaner-White Published
-
Trump criminal trial starts with rulings, reminder
Speed Read The first day of his historic trial over hush money payments was mostly focused on jury selection
By Rafi Schwartz, The Week US Published
-
Parents of school shooter sentenced to 10-15 years
Speed Read Jennifer and James Crumbley are the first parents to be convicted in a US mass shooting
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Unlicensed dealers and black market guns
Speed Read 68,000 illegally trafficked guns were sold in a five year period, said ATF
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Bankman-Fried gets 25 years for fraud
Speed Read Former "crypto king" Sam Bankman-Fried will report to federal prison
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Feds raid Diddy homes in alleged sex trafficking case
Speed Read Homeland Security raided the properties of hip hop mogul Sean "Diddy" Combs
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
'Goon Squad' cops sentenced for torturing 2 Black men
Speed Read The former Mississippi law enforcement officers pleaded guilty last year
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Michigan shooter's dad guilty of manslaughter
speed read James Crumbley failed to prevent his son from killing four students at Oxford High School in 2021
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Deaths of Jesse Baird and Luke Davies hang over Sydney's Mardi Gras
The Explainer Police officer, the former partner of TV presenter victim, charged with two counts of murder after turning himself in
By Austin Chen, The Week UK Published