A 38-year-old man is dealing with prison expenses after allegedly breaking into the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion in the midst of the night time on Sunday and beginning a fireplace that triggered important harm and compelled Josh Shapiro and his household to evacuate.
Firefighters in Harrisburg, the capital metropolis of Pennsylvania, extinguished the blaze by early morning, and no accidents have been reported.
Here’s what we all know concerning the assault and the suspect.
What occurred?
Shapiro stated within the early hours, at about 2am (06:00 GMT) on Sunday, a state trooper from their safety element woke him and his household by banging on their door and telling them they wanted to evacuate instantly.
Police have been alerted that somebody had scaled the fence and commenced looking the grounds, however they have been initially unable to seek out anybody.
Based on police, a person broke into the southern wing of the residence, getting into a room generally used for internet hosting visitors and displaying paintings. He allegedly began a fireplace utilizing a selfmade incendiary gadget.
Based on experiences, the fireplace triggered in depth harm – charring the partitions, tables, buffet serving dishes, plates, and a piano. Window panes and the brickwork surrounding doorways and home windows have been additionally blackened.
The police recognized the suspect as Cody Balmer, a resident of Harrisburg.
Final night time at about 2AM, my household and I woke as much as bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fireplace to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg.
The Harrisburg Bureau of Hearth was on the scene and whereas they labored to place out the fireplace, we have been…
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) April 13, 2025
Who’s Cody Balmer?
The suspect, 38-year-old Balmer, has over the previous decade confronted varied prison expenses, together with easy assault, theft and forgery, in accordance with on-line courtroom information. In 2016, he acquired a probation sentence after pleading responsible to theft and forgery.
Officers stated he was taken into custody in Harrisburg on Sunday afternoon.
Based on a CNN report, after Balmer fled, a lady claiming to be his ex-partner contacted police and said that he had confessed to beginning the fireplace.
Following this, Balmer turned himself in at police headquarters.
He admitted to state troopers that he had set the fires and was charged with tried homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault, authorities stated. He’s presently held with out bond at Dauphin County Jail in Harrisburg.
Images from inside Pennsylvania Governor’s mansion after police say an arsonist set fireplace to the home whereas Governor Shapiro and his household slept inside round 2am.
Cody Balmer of Harrisburg was arrested — deliberate expenses embrace tried homicide and terrorism. pic.twitter.com/GWEfC3B8qH— Brian Entin (@BrianEntin) April 13, 2025
How did Balmer get on the property?
Based on officers, he scaled a 7-foot (2.1-metre) fence surrounding the governor’s residence and broke into the house earlier than igniting the fireplace.
Newsweek reported that Dauphin County District Lawyer Fran Chardo stated Balmer illegally entered the property, shattering a window utilizing a hammer. He then allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail inside, “igniting a considerable fireplace inside”.
Authorities stated Balmer was contained in the residence for lower than a minute earlier than he escaped. He managed to “actively evade” troopers, who have been concurrently looking the premises, officers stated.
Throughout a information convention, Shapiro described the assault as “focused”, although the motive stays unclear.
Shapiro stated the fireplace was set within the very room the place he and his household had joined members of Harrisburg’s Jewish neighborhood for a Passover seder on Saturday night time.
“We don’t but know the person’s actual motive,” Shapiro, who’s Jewish, stated throughout a information convention.
“However there are some things we do know. First: this type of violence is unacceptable. It’s taking place far too typically in our society. And albeit, I don’t care which facet it’s coming from, who it’s focusing on, or what the reasoning is — it’s flawed and it wants to finish. We should do higher than this.”
Final night time on the Governor’s Residence, we skilled an assault not simply on our household, however on all the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
This type of violence has change into far too widespread in our society, and it has to cease. pic.twitter.com/5HP5JSvgfc
— Governor Josh Shapiro (@GovernorShapiro) April 13, 2025
Who’s Josh Shapiro?
At 51, Shapiro is serving his first time period as governor of Pennsylvania, the nation’s fifth-largest state and a key presidential battleground. These components have elevated his profile throughout the Democratic Get together and positioned him as a possible contender for the White Home in 2028.
Shapiro, a Jew, has typically spoken publicly about his religion.
Since taking workplace as governor, he has raised eyebrows – notably amongst progressive Democrats – for denouncing pro-Palestinian scholar protesters on faculty campuses.
Shapiro instructed US publication Politico final yr: “I do really feel a considerably distinctive duty to talk out once I see this degree of anti-Semitism on our campuses and in our communities.”
Shapiro and his spouse, Lori, have 4 youngsters collectively: Sophia, Jonah, Max and Reuben.
The Pennsylvania governor’s residence in Harrisburg is a 29,000-square-foot (2,694-square-metre) Georgian-style mansion in-built 1968, which has served as the house for eight governors.
