N.C. gunshots leave thousands in dark

CARTHAGE, N.C. — Two power substations in a North Carolina county were damaged by gunfire in what is being investigated as a crime, causing damage that could take days to repair and leaving tens of thousands of people without electricity, authorities said Sunday.

In response to ongoing outages, which began just after 7 p.m. Saturday across Moore County, officials announced a state of emergency that included a curfew from 9 p.m. Sunday to 5 a.m. today. Also, county schools will be closed today.

“An attack like this on critical infrastructure is a serious, intentional crime and I expect state and federal authorities to thoroughly investigate and bring those responsible to justice,” Gov. Roy Cooper wrote on Twitter.

Authorities have not determined a motivation, Moore County Sheriff Ronnie Fields said at a Sunday news conference. He said someone pulled up and “opened fire on the substation — the same thing with the other one.”

The sheriff noted that the FBI was working with state investigators to determine who was responsible. He said “it was targeted.”

Fields said law enforcement was providing security at the substations and for businesses overnight.

Roughly 36,000 electric customers in the county remained without power Sunday afternoon, according to poweroutage.us.

With cold temperatures forecast for Sunday night, the county also opened in Carthage.

Duke Energy spokesman Jeff Brooks said multiple pieces of equipment will have to be replaced. While the company is trying to restore power as quickly as possible, he said he braced customers for the potential of outages lasting days.