FBI seeks links between power grid attacks in North, South Carolina

Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan said on Thursday that there was no evidence the gunman had aimed for the power station.
FBI Director Christopher Wray

The FBI is currently seeking potential links between recent attacks on North Carolina power stations and a separate incident in South Carolina that occurred days later.

Two Duke Energy power substations in Moore County, N.C., sustained damage from gunfire last weekend, leaving tens of thousands without power for several days. A separate gun-related incident on Wednesday saw an individual with a rifle open fire roughly one half of a mile away from a third Duke Energy power station in South Carolina. There were neither injuries nor power outages as a result of the South Carolina episode.

Kershaw County Sheriff Lee Boan said on Thursday that there was no evidence the gunman had aimed for the power station. "I currently have no reason to believe this shooting incident has anything to do with an attack on the hydro station," NBC News reported him as saying. "As of right now, I'm just not seeing the connection between the two."

Nevertheless, the bureau is analyzing shell casings found from both sites, attempting to discern any potential links. No suspects have yet been identified in the North Carolina shootings, though law enforcement agencies have issued "active warrants" for suspects, Moreover, Moore County and Duke Energy have pooled together to offer cash rewards for information on the attack's perpetrators.