Reward offered for info leading to arrest, conviction in Moore County substation attack

A reward of up to $75,000 is being offered to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest and conviction of whoever is responsible for destroying the electric substations in Moore County that has knocked out power for several days.

The damage has led to losses for businesses, people temporarily displaced from their homes and schools closed.

North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper announced the rewards on Wednesday afternoon. The awards are up to $25,000 each from the state, Duke Energy and Moore County.

Duke Energy power substations were attacked with gunfire about 7 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 3. It left more than 45,000 homes and businesses without power. Much of the power was restored by Wednesday afternoon as substations were repaired.

Local, state and federal law enforcement are working together with the Moore County Sheriff’s Office to investigate what happened. Moore County Public Safety will have another press briefing at 4 p.m. Wednesday in Carthage, streamed online.

Cooper told reporters on Tuesday that the attack was “too easy” for the substations to be disabled with gunfire.

On Wednesday, he said an “attack on our critical infrastructure will not be tolerated.”

“I appreciate the coordinated efforts of law enforcement to leave no stone unturned in finding the criminals who did this and I thank Moore County and Duke Energy for matching the state’s reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible,” Cooper said in a news release about the rewards.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation is also seeking information about the incident.

Anyone who has information about the case should contact the Moore County Sheriff’s Office at 910-947-4444 or the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 800-CALL FBI.