VASS, N.C. (WNCN) — New details are emerging about the investigation into the Moore County power substations attacks a year ago, which led to the death of one person.
The are hundreds of pages of search warrants and statements from the FBI and Moore County Sheriff’s investigators. The documents are all linked to the December 3, 2022, attacks that left 45,000 Duke Energy customers without power for days.
Newly unsealed court documents show that just days after the attack, Moore County received a tip leading to multiple search warrants.
In court documents, a man called Moore County authorities and told them his coworker had been in communication with people connected to a right-wing group that had a plan to attack substations in Moore County.
Investigators then requested phone records from AT&T and T-Mobile. That led to the questioning of a former U.S. Army Ranger who works for a power management company. Phone records placed his wife’s cellphone around 900 yards away from the site of a substation, minutes before the attack.
However, he initially told investigators she was in Charlotte at the time.
Investigators also spoke to the leader of a Moore County right-wing group. The court documents said she posted on social media about knowing the reason behind the days-long power outage. Investigators also linked her to the Army Ranger.
Investigators said they’re still searching for a light blue or silver Honda Odyssey van. In court records the FBI confirms that the same gun was used in both attacks on the substations.
So far no one has been arrested. Since no one has been charged in this case, CBS 17 chose not to release the identities of the individuals named in court documents.
Neither the FBI nor the Moore County Sheriff’s Office would comment on these latest developments in the case.