Two Georgia men were fatally electrocuted on Monday morning as they were attempting to steal copper wire at an electrical power station, according to local police.
Lt. Kevin Holbrook of the Gainesville Police Department shared with CBS News that the force of a transformer explosion and electrocution played a role in the men’s deaths. The department was made aware of the explosion after someone at a nearby business who witnessed it called the department.
The police believe the thieves were trying to steal copper wiring and other electrical components when the explosion occurred. When officers and firefighters arrived on the scene, they found the bodies of the two men, Shane Joseph Long, 45, and Christopher Blair Wood, 44. Officers found one of the men “one-two stories up on the top of a substation” and the other was at the bottom in “a pool of water.”
The men were identified by the Hall County Coroner’s Office, which is still conducting autopsies to confirm the cause of death for both men.
Holbrook maintained that one of the men was electrocuted to death, with officers seeing “visible marks” on his body, while the other could have been killed when the transformer exploded.
The owner of Liquid Nation Brewing, a company next to the substation, spoke with The Times of Gainesville about the incident, noting that the substation is secure.
“I’m not sure what they were trying to steal,” Pap Datta said. “One of the officers retrieved a backpack from that area, and I’m assuming it’s one of theirs. And, you know, how much could they have carried out, a couple $100 worth of stuff? And just the loss of life for that? It’s sad. It’s heartbreaking.”
While stealing metals has been a common thread throughout the last decade, Holbrook noted to CBS News that the risk-to-reward ratio isn’t worth it.
“It’s just pennies on the dollars for this type of stuff,” Holbrook said. “It’s not worth it to put your life on the line.”
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