FBI offering reward of up to $25K for information leading to arrests in substation attacks

The FBI is now offering a $25,000 cash reward for any information that leads to an arrest on a pair of substation attacks that happened in Washington and Oregon.

One of the attacks happened in Tumwater at the Barnes Lake Substation in November. Officials said it was shot at multiple times and they found three shell casings. The attack in Oregon City happened just two days later.

“These are not just cases of, you know, being disrupted because you can’t watch your favorite show or something like that. There are deadly potential consequences for something like this,” said Steve Bernd, a spokesman for FBI Seattle.

When the Barnes Lake Substation was attacked it left more than 5,000 people in the dark. Photos provided by the FBI show a radiator for one of the transformers leaking fluid on the ground.

“We know for a fact in this case in Tumwater, this was a nefarious act. Someone shot bullets at the place, this was not an accident, so you know someone with bad intentions did this on purpose,” Bernd said.

These attacks aren’t unique to the Pacific Northwest either — they’ve been happening all over the country, and last year on Christmas Day four substations in Pierce County were also attacked.

“This is a newer trend since last year,” Bernd said. “It’s hard to say what motivation is for these people until we can actually identify them and talk to them and figure out why they’re doing what they’re doing.”

If you have any information, you’re asked to call the FBI or leave a tip online at tips.fbi.gov.

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