ABERDEEN, N.C. — A state of emergency is in effect for Moore County after tens of thousands of customers were left without power in what officials believe stemmed from a targeted attack.
A Duke Energy outage map Saturday evening showed 37,998 customers without power in Moore County; The Randolph Electric Membership Corporation also reported nearly 3,000 customers without power in the southern part of the county. As of Sunday at 5 p.m. over 38,000 people remain without power, according to a Duke Energy outage map.
During a press conference on Sunday, Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said that the power outages began shortly after 7 p.m. on Saturday and impacted most Moore County residents. Firearm damage caused extensive damage to a Moore County substation, according to Fields.
No information was given on a suspect or what led to the firearm damage at the substation.
"We faced something last night in Moore County we've never faced before," said Fields during the press conference.
Along with the state of emergency, a 9 p.m. curfew is in effect for Moore County. A shelter is available in the county for residents who need to use it.
Duke Energy says its crews are working 24-hour shifts to make repairs and restore service to all impacted customers. However, they believe the full process will take several days to complete. The company says several large and vital pieces of equipment were damaged during the incident.
Moore County Schools announced that they are closing all campuses for Monday and will make a decision for the rest of the week day-by-day as the situation develops.
Fields says the sheriff's office is continuing to investigate this incident along with federal authorities and have not been able to tie anything to the gunshots. He believes the shooting was a targeted event and not random.
A woman who vehemently and repeatedly protested a drag show scheduled in Southern Pines claims that deputies questioned her in regard to the mass power outages in the county, after she posted on social media that she knows why the outage happened.
Emily Grace Rainey, a former U.S. Army psychological operations officer, made several posts about it on social media, even saying in one post: “The power is out in Moore County and I know why."
Fields did not say whether or not the sheriff's office has connected the vandalism to the drag show or any suspects.
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