DATELINE: CARTHAGE, N.C. — On Thursday, investigators issued multiple search warrants related to attack on the power grid. The warrants, which will remain sealed, are on the state level.
The FBI has also applied for a Federal Order to retrieve cell phone records to identify people in the area of the substations on Saturday night. They are still working on finding the suspects and the motive.
The country was warned about terror attacks which could target U.S. infrastructure and certain groups days before shootings that knocked out Moore County’s power grid, leaving tens of thousands without heat or electricity.
Gov. Cooper announced a reward of up to $75,000 for information leading to the arrest of the person or persons responsible for the attack on the power grid. The reward money is being offered by the State, Duke Energy and Moore County, who are each offering up to $25,000.
Bullets recovered from the sites, and the brass shell casings found a short distance away, are the few pieces of physical evidence that investigators have.
Because of the heat generated in a high-powered rifle’s chamber during rapid fire, fingerprints are burned away – and nearly impossible to recover from spent casings. Still, the brass may offer valuable clues.
Investigators can enter the casings into the National Integrated Ballistic Information Network, a database from the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The database records three-dimensional images of shell casings and can match them to any other shell casings that may have been fired by the same gun at another crime scene or to the gun if the weapon is recovered.
The spot where the casings were found can give investigators a way to pinpoint the firing positions. Knowing where the shooter fired from could lead to discoveries such as shoe prints and tire tracks.
