
Sniper Attack on San Jose power substation - giantrobothead
http://www.mercurynews.com/crime-courts/ci_25072628/attack-pg-e-substation-sparks-concerns-about-possible
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aaronem
There's a lot of "we don't know anything, so we're going to make this sound as
ominous as possible". For example:

> Reportedly firing bullets like those used by AK-47s -- an assault weapon
> favored by terrorists [...]

That could mean anything from "we've found 7.62x39 casings with extractor
marks in the AK's distinctive pattern", which they probably haven't since they
don't mention anyone having found where the "snipers" fired from, to "we've
found some .308 Winchester slugs that could've come from any of a thousand
different models of lawfully obtainable hunting rifle."

Seems a bit over-egging the pudding, to me. I'm not in favor of people
wantonly shooting up defenseless power substations, of course, but there's a
certain overheated tendency about the coverage I'm seeing that leaves me
unfavorably impressed.

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fdavison
I thought the same thing: Some drunk asshole with a rifle and box of bullets.
Shoots the transformers randomly, finds a spot where something finally
happens, with the oil pouring out, runs out of bullets, and goes home.

Hanlon's razor: "Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained
by stupidity."

Next, bullet holes in rural road signs will be evidence of domestic terrorism.

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fennecfoxen
FWIW, the people investigating strongly believe that this assessment is wrong.
However, they are not giving out all the details to corroborate their
assessment (they fear copycats).

"This wasn't an incident where Billy-Bob and Joe decided, after a few
brewskis, to come in and shoot up a substation," Mark Johnson, retired vice
president of transmission for PG&E, told the utility security conference,
according to a video of his presentation. "This was an event that was well
thought out, well planned and they targeted certain components." When reached,
Mr. Johnson declined to comment further".

\-- "Assault on California Power Station Raises Alarm on Potential for
Terrorism", Wall Street Journal.
[http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB1000142405270230485110...](http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702304851104579359141941621778)

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giantrobothead
Also, Alexis Madrigal brings up the Pynchonian aspect of the attack at
[http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/sniper...](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/02/snipers-
coordinated-an-attack-on-the-power-grid-but-why/283620/)

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bequanna
This actually happened several years in a rural area where I grew up.

Some people shot up transformers at a larger substation. Maybe they expected
to see an explosion, fire, or something but just ended up making a hell of a
mess (The transformer oil leaked out, and is considered hazmat) and causing a
lot of damage ($Millions).

They didn't catch those people either. But, I don't recall anyone calling them
'Snipers' or 'domestic terrorists'.

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Globecore
When we provide transformer regeneration services, we'r guarded with
weapon.... www.GlobecoreRegen.com

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arsemouflon
TERROR!!!111!1

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RandomSpamMan
"File not found.""

Anyone got a cache? Looks like google didn't grab it.

~~~
fennecfoxen
No, but I can link you to the WSJ's coverage (if you use a Google referer).

[https://www.google.com/search?q=wsj+sniper+attack&oq=wsj+sni...](https://www.google.com/search?q=wsj+sniper+attack&oq=wsj+sniper+attack&aqs=chrome..69i57.5548j0j1&sourceid=chrome&espv=210&es_sm=119&ie=UTF-8)

