As many as 45,000 people across North Carolina’s Moore County are preparing for days without electricity after a suspected group of gunmen shot at a couple of power substations in what authorities described on Monday as a “criminal attack.” A state of emergency was declared after roughly 34,000 outages were reported in the region. “This kind of attack raises a new level of threat,” said Gov. Roy Cooper at a press conference. “I am sure that we will learn more about motives of this intentional attack to come,” Cooper said. “Regardless of motive, violence and sabotage will not be tolerated.” But whoever committed the act knew exactly what they were doing, said Sheriff Ronnie Fields. Roughly 7,000 homes had their electricity restored last night, according to a spokesperson for Duke Energy, though despite 24-hour shifts to repair the damage, some components need to be replaced entirely, adding to delays. State officials said they’re looking to harden infrastructure to prevent future attacks of this nature.
