Pennsylvania police make arrest after suspected arson at governor’s mansion

Police say a man has been arrested and will face charges, including attempted murder, terrorism and attempted arson, in an early morning fire that badly damaged the Pennsylvania governor’s mansion and forced Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family to quickly escape.

Sunday’s announcement came after Shapiro and his family were evacuated overnight from the official governor’s residence after someone set fire to the building. Shapiro told an afternoon news conference that he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family that had celebrated Passover on Saturday were inside the home when they were awakened by state troopers.

No one was injured and the fire was extinguished, according to authorities.

Pennsylvania State Police Col. Christopher Paris identified the man in custody as Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, Pa. Paris emphasized at a Sunday afternoon news conference that the investigation is continuing.

Dauphin County district attorney Francis Chardo said that forthcoming charges will include attempted murder, terrorism, attempted arson and aggravated assault.

Authorities said the suspect hopped over a fence surrounding the property and forcibly entered the residence before setting it on fire.

Police deputy commissioner George Bivens said Balmer had a homemade incendiary device and evaded police, who knew there had been a breach.

“I’m obviously emotional,” Shapiro said at the news conference. “When we were in the state dining room last night, we told the story of Passover” and the story of the Jewish exodus from bondage, he said. “I refuse to be trapped by the bondage that someone attempted to put on me by attacking us as they did last night.”

State police gave no other details about the cause of the fire at the Susquehanna Riverfront mansion but said it caused a “significant amount of damage” to a portion of the residence. Shapiro and his family had been sleeping in a different part of the residence, police said.

Shapiro, viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic Party in 2028, said he had received pledges of help from the Department of Justice, the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office, as well as numerous messages of support from fellow governors and others.

The Harrisburg Bureau of Fire was called to the residence and, while they worked to put out the fire, police evacuated the family from the residence safely, Shapiro said.

On Sunday, fire damage was visible on the residence’s south side, primarily to a large room often used for entertaining crowds and art displays. Large west-facing windows were completely missing their glass panes, and doors stood ajar amid signs of charring.

There was a police presence on Sunday as yellow tape cordoned off an alleyway, investigators observed the damage inside and an officer led a dog outside an iron security fence before investigators sawed off a section from the top of the security fence on the residence’s south side. They wrapped it in heavy black plastic and took it away in a vehicle.

Shapiro splits his time between the mansion that has housed governors since it was built in the 1960s and a home in Abington, about 160 kilometres east. He posted a photograph on social media on Saturday of the family’s Passover Seder table at the residence.

Former Pennsylvania governor Mark Schweiker, a Republican, called the attack a “despicable act of cowardice” and said he hoped Pennsylvanians joined he and his wife in keeping the Shapiros in their prayers.

Former governor Tom Ridge, also a Republican, said images of the damage to the residence where he lived for eight years with his family were “heartbreaking” and that the attack on the official residence was shocking.

“Whoever is responsible for this attack — to both the Shapiro family and our Commonwealth — must be held to account,” Ridge said.