Thomasville substation damaged by gunfire on Tuesday morning
THOMASVILLE - An EnergyUnited electric power substation in Thomasville was damaged by gunfire Tuesday morning, but did not cause any power outages.
According to information provided by the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office, on Jan. 17 an employee with EnergyUnited reported that the company received an alarm at a substation on Post Road in Thomasville located in Randolph County. After inspecting the unit, employee reported evidence of apparent gunshot damage to the transformer to police.
Detectives with local law enforcement responded to the scene to investigate and collect evidence at the site. The Federal Bureau of Investigations and North Carolina State Bureau of Investigations. were also notified. The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force responded to conduct a parallel investigation.
According to information from the Randolph County Sheriff’s office, investigators determined the incident occur at approximately 3 a.m., based on information gathered.
Representatives with EnergyUnited said the damage was quickly assessed and mitigated the impact to members and prevent outages.
“EnergyUnited continually strives to deliver safe, reliable energy to its members,” said Steve McCachern, vice president of energy delivery for EnergyUnited. “While we are glad that our members did not experience any service interruptions, we take this matter very seriously and are currently investigating the incident.”
EnergyUnited reports that the area of service from the effected substation includes Trinity, Thomasville and areas of Davidson County south of Thomasville. The Randolph County Board of Commissioners, County Manager’s Office and Davidson County Sheriff’s Office were contacted for emergency planning in the event of an outage in that area.
This is the second incident of apparent “attacks” on electric substations in the past weeks. On Dec. 3, two substations in Moore County were damaged by gunfire on the same night, which caused outages for thousands of residents for several days.
At the time, Gov. Roy Cooper stated law enforcement are working to find out who committed these “atrocious acts”
"This type of violence and sabotage will not be tolerated in North Carolina," said Cooper via Twitter. "We're making sure that people are safe and warm and we've committed significant resources from the state to ensure people have what they need."
Representatives with EnergyUnited said they are collaborating with electric cooperatives, industry partners, peer organizations, as well as federal, state, and local officials to share information to improve member services and strengthens critical systems.
The company asks community members to share information with the cooperative and local officials whenever suspicious activity is observed near any of its substations or facilities
Anyone with information regarding this incident in Thomasville on Tuesday should contact the Randolph County Sheriff’s Office Criminal Investigations at (336) 318-6658 or Randolph County Crime Stoppers tip line at (336) 672-7463.
This article originally appeared on The Dispatch: Thomasville substation damaged by gunfire on Tuesday morning
