A Pennsylvania man has been charged with tried homicide, terrorism and different offenses after a fireplace on the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg pressured Gov. Josh Shapiro and his household to evacuate the house early Sunday morning, in line with court docket paperwork filed in Dauphin County.
Officers mentioned Cody Balmer, 38, hopped a fence and deliberately set a fireplace on the residence early on Sunday, April 13, whereas Shapiro and his household had been dwelling. Balmer, of Harrisburg, was charged Monday with prison murder/tried homicide, terrorism, aggravated arson and extra.
Balmer was arraigned on the costs on Monday night, and a decide denied bail. Earlier Monday, Pennsylvania State Police mentioned Balmer was handled at a hospital for a “medical occasion not associated to this incident or his arrest.” He was taken into custody on Sunday within the Harrisburg space.
Pennsylvania State Police
Shapiro mentioned the assault was focused, however officers do not know Balmer’s particular motive but.
“This type of violence is changing into far too frequent in our society,” Shapiro mentioned. “And I do not give a rattling if it is coming from one explicit facet or the opposite, directed at one explicit celebration or one other, or one explicit individual or one other, it’s not OK, and it has to cease. We’ve got to be higher than this. We’ve got a accountability to all be higher.”
Balmer’s mom, Christie Balmer, informed CBS Information her son is “mentally in poor health and he went off his treatment.”
Christie Balmer mentioned she tried to get her son “picked up” final week and reached out to 4 totally different police departments, however “could not get anyone to assist. So he was mentally in poor health, went off his meds, and that is what occurred.”
State police mentioned crews from the Harrisburg Bureau of Fireplace went to the Governor’s Residence on North Entrance Avenue in Dauphin County round 2 a.m. Sunday for a report of a fireplace.
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 
Shapiro mentioned that he and his household had been asleep on the dwelling when the hearth broke out. The Pennsylvania governor mentioned they woke as much as bangs on the door by the Pennsylvania State Police. Shapiro, his spouse, Lori, and his youngsters, together with two canines and the family staying with them, evacuated the Governor’s Residence as Harrisburg hearth crews labored to extinguish the blaze.
The Pennsylvania governor mentioned that nobody was injured, and the hearth was introduced underneath management.
The fireplace occurred after Shapiro, who’s Jewish, and his household celebrated the primary evening of Passover. Shapiro declined to name the hearth a hate crime however mentioned that the blaze will not deter him from doing his job or celebrating his religion.
“I am not fearful,” Shapiro mentioned. “I am clearly emotional. I am fearful about my household. I would like my children to be OK. After we had been within the State Eating Room final evening, gathered with the group and household and buddies, we informed the story of Passover, and it is a story of going from bondage, from slavery, into freedom. I believe it is an necessary story, each actually and figuratively, to inform, and I refuse to be trapped by the bondage that somebody makes an attempt to placed on me by attacking us, as they did right here final evening. I refuse to let anybody who had evil intentions like that cease me from doing the work that I like, cease me from being a frontrunner of this commonwealth and searching for all Pennsylvanians. I can’t be deterred in my work, and I can’t be afraid to try this work.”
Pennsylvania State Police Troop H is investigating the hearth, which they mentioned induced important harm to a portion of the house. State police encourages anybody with info associated to the hearth to name 1-800-4PA TIPS (1-800-472-8477).
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 
The Governor’s Residence was constructed on the Susquehanna River and is described as a 29,000-square-foot Georgian-style dwelling designed by architect George Ewing.
The house has housed eight governors and their households, in line with the state’s web site.
Shapiro spoke with FBI Director Kash Patel and mentioned he promised all of the sources vital for the investigation.
“Lori and I are overwhelmed by the prayers and the messages of help that we have acquired from all throughout Pennsylvania and all throughout the USA,” an emotional Shapiro mentioned. “We have heard from our fellow governors and first spouses. We have heard from a number of of the previous governors of Pennsylvania. Heard from so many buddies and family members. We have heard from so many caring residents of this nice commonwealth. I would like you all to know that your prayers raise us up, and on this second of darkness, we’re selecting to see gentle. We admire the sunshine that you’ve got shined upon us.”
Within the Oval Workplace on Monday, President Trump condemned the assault.
“The attacker principally wasn’t a fan of anyone, most likely only a whack job,” Trump mentioned. “And positively a factor like that can not be allowed to occur.”
Who’s Cody Balmer, and the way did he enter the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence?
Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens mentioned that Balmer climbed over a fence and “evaded troopers” whereas they had been trying to find him on the property earlier than the hearth.
Bivens mentioned that Balmer broke into the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence and set the hearth with a selfmade incendiary gadget.
It is unclear if Balmer knew the structure of the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence, however he was inside the home for lower than one minute, in line with Bivens.
“That is all a part of the continued investigation. When it comes to the structure, I’ll let you know that he clearly had a plan,” Bivens mentioned. “He was very methodical in his method and moved via it with out numerous hurry, once more, in a really methodical, deliberate method, and carried it out, though in a really quick time period.”
A safety overview is presently underway to learn the way Balmer was in a position to enter after which exit the property after allegedly setting the hearth. There will even be additional safety round Shapiro and the Pennsylvania Governor’s Residence following the incident, officers mentioned.
Balmer served as a development tools repairer within the Military Reserve from April 2004 to June 2012 with no deployments, in line with Heather J. Hagan, a U.S. Military spokesperson. Hagan mentioned Balmer was a sergeant when he left the Military.
Public information level to an unstable background for Balmer, together with custody battles over his children and a close to foreclosures on a house.
Courtroom information present Balmer pleaded responsible a decade in the past to a scheme involving solid paperwork.
In 2023, he was arrested and charged with assault in reference to a violent home dispute involving his spouse and son. Based on the affidavit, Balmer informed investigators he had taken a bottle of tablets in an try to kill himself. That case is ongoing.
Late Sunday evening, an auto-repair store the place Balmer is believed to have labored up to now posted to Fb, “In gentle of present occasions relating to a former worker of ours, we wish to say that he has not labored for us for over two years. Whereas we’re saddened to study of those present costs, we absolutely help our women and men in legislation enforcement in addition to our authorities officers. We’ve got no additional remark at the moment.”
Pennsylvania leaders reply after Governor’s Residence hearth
Commonwealth of Pennsylvania 
Leaders from the commonwealth and surrounding areas posted statements on social media concerning the hearth, the Shapiro household’s security and the emergency crews’ response.
Former President Joe Biden wrote on social media Monday, “Jill and I are disgusted by the assault on the Shapiro household and their dwelling through the first evening of Passover. We’re relieved that they’re protected and grateful to the primary responders. There isn’t any place for such a evil in America, and as I informed the Governor yesterday, we should stand united in opposition to hatred and violence.”
In a assertion, Legal professional Normal Dave Sunday praised the primary responders for his or her fast actions and mentioned his workplace “stands prepared with any sources wanted to seek out the perpetrator of this mindless act of violence.”
Former Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge posted on social media that he and his spouse are grateful the Shapiro household made it out safely, saying, “The photographs exhibiting the harm to the house we lived in with our youngsters for almost eight years are heartbreaking.” One other former commonwealth chief, Gov. Mark Schweiker, referred to as the hearth, which state police are investigating as arson, a “despicable act of cowardice.”
Lt. Gov. Austin Davis posted his sentiments on social media, writing partially, “I will not speculate on motivations, however I’ll say that concentrating on elected officers and their relations with violence isn’t acceptable.”
Democratic Speaker of the Pennsylvania Home Rep. Joanna McClinton mentioned partially, “cowardly acts of violence meant to stoke worry don’t have any place in our commonwealth.”
New Jersey Sen. Andy Kim moreover condemned the hearth, writing, “Violence can by no means be tolerated.”
Philadelphia Metropolis Council President Kenyatta Johnson mentioned in an announcement: “On behalf of the entire members of Philadelphia Metropolis Council, we’re all completely satisfied that Governor Josh Shapiro and his household are protected after the heinous act of arson.”
