Here is my original diary, figured it had aged enough to start a new update.
Thanks again to everyone that recc’ed and commented on that thread.
And I found out I had posted about Emily Rainey prior to her social media posts about God causing blackouts, back in January 2021, also got way more recs and comments than I expected.
Not much public about the investigation so far. I expect information will be tightly controlled for the next while.
Looks like the FBI Field Office in Charlotte it taking lead for the FBI part of this.
They have made really good progress restoring power today. They expect to have everyone back up by midnight tonight. Here is the outage map as of 3:30 pm. It is many fewer people than when I checked this morning. They are bring people back on a bit at a time so as to not overwhelm the grid.
Updates from The Pilot
Power has been restored to the hospital, as well as much of downtown Southern Pines. The Schools are planing to reopen on Friday if the next 24 hours of setting up the cafeterias and other school functions goes well. They do have days banked for inclement weather and expect to be able to use those.
A $75,000 reward is being offered for information “leading to the arrest and conviction of the person or persons responsible” of the sabotage of two electricity substations that upended life for much of Moore County on Saturday.
WRAL reports a bit more about the reward
The reward money is being offered by the State, Duke Energy and Moore County, who are each offering up to $25,000.
CNN is reporting that nearly 2 dozen shell casings have been recovered.
Investigators can enter the casings into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, a database from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The database records three-dimensional images of shell casings and can match them to any other shell casings that may have been fired by the same gun at another crime scene or to the gun if the weapon is recovered.
The spot where the casings were found can give investigators a way to pinpoint the firing positions. Knowing where the shooter fired from could lead to discoveries such as shoe prints and tire tracks.
For those talking about felony murder…
Officials confirmed that the resident was at their Pinehurst home and without power when they died; however, investigators are still working to determine whether the death was related to the power outage or if it was just a normal medical condition that caused the death.
If the blackout is to blame for the death, the criminal case and charges could be different for whoever is found responsible for attacking the substations.
NC Zoo offering free admission to Moore County Residents
Emily Rainey going on the right wing media circuit
Substation attacks in other states
“Power companies in Oregon and Washington have reported physical attacks on substations using handtools, arson, firearms and metal chains possibly in response to an online call for attacks on critical infrastructure,” the memo states.
“PGE is aware of a deliberate physical attack on one of our substations in the Clackamas area that occurred in late November. We are actively cooperating with the FBI and cannot at this time share many details about this incident as it is currently under investigation. Our teams have assessed the damage and begun repair to the impacted facility.” — PGE spokesperson
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Update: 7:15 pm
Thanks for the rec list!
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Update 2 9am 12/8/22
Other power grid attacks
Thanks to Mathy Kathy for the lead on the South Carolina one.
According to multiple sources, the individual pulled up in a truck outside the facility around 5:30 p.m. ET before opening fire, using what appeared to be a long gun, and then speeding away. Several Duke Energy employees witnessed the event. No one was injured. It was not immediately clear how many people were in the truck.
A law enforcement official confirmed to CBS News that shots were apparently fired. In a statement to CBS News, Duke Energy said it is working “closely” with the FBI to investigate the issue.
And a previous attack on a NC substation from Nov 11
Carteret-Craven Electric Cooperative (CCEC) property near Maysville was damaged by vandals on Friday, November 11. More than 12,000 CCEC members were without power for approximately two hours on Friday because of criminal vandalism.
CCEC monitors its system constantly, and soon after the outage occurred, crews were dispatched to begin the restoration process and found that the Maysville substation had been vandalized. The Maysville substation remains off-line, but CCEC is fully able to serve all of its members through other substations.
The total cost of the damage is unknown at this time, but it is expected to exceed $500,000. CCEC is fully insured and is working closely with insurance investigators.
