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This is an evolving story. It was last updated at 10:22 a.m. on Monday, April 14.
HARRISBURG — A Harrisburg man walked an hour from his home with gasoline-filled beer bottles and a hammer before setting fire to Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official state residence early Sunday, then fled the scene and later turned himself in, authorities said.
The suspect, 38-year-old Cody Balmer, allegedly confessed during a police interview and said if he had confronted Shapiro inside the historic Susquehanna riverfront residence, he would have beaten the governor with the hammer, court records released Monday state.
Balmer was charged with attempted criminal homicide, arson, burglary, terrorism and other offenses, according to the criminal complaint obtained by Spotlight PA. Court records state Balmer was fueled by “hatred” towards Shapiro, though it does not elaborate on the reason for those feelings.
Balmer was scheduled to be arraigned Monday, but the arraignment has since been postponed. A spokesperson for Pennsylvania State Police said in a statement that “due to a medical event not connected to this incident or his arrest, Balmer was transported to an area hospital where he is currently receiving treatment.”
According to the State Police, he remained under their supervision and will be arraigned when he is released from the hospital.
Shapiro was inside the governor’s mansion with his wife, Lori, and other guests when the attack occurred. All evacuated safely without injury.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, Balmer removed gasoline from a lawn mower and poured it into Heineken bottles he found at his home. He then walked an hour to the governor’s residence, where he scaled a perimeter fence, used a hammer to break two windows and threw the first of his homemade “Molotov cocktails” inside.
As flames engulfed a portion of the residence, the affidavit states, Balmer entered the stately home and threw a second Molotov cocktail in the residence’s dining room. He then kicked a door open and fled, again scaling the perimeter fence and running away. Police found two gloves Balmer wore stashed in a trash can near the residence.
Later Sunday morning, a woman identified in records as an “ex-paramour” called State Police and told them Balmer had confessed to her and asked her to call law enforcement to turn him in. A short time after that, Balmer showed up at State Police headquarters just outside Harrisburg, where he told a trooper he was responsible for the fire and wanted to turn himself in.
In a news conference Sunday afternoon, a visibly shaken Shapiro said the attack was “targeted” but that police do not know “the person’s specific motive yet.”
But “if he was trying to terrorize our family, our friends, the Jewish community who joined us for a Passover Seder in that room last night, hear me … no one will deter me or my family or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly,” he said.
A State Police official said a security review is underway to determine “how we can ensure that we don’t have a repeat of a situation like this.” Shapiro said he has “total confidence” in the State Police to keep him and his family safe.
“This type of violence is not OK,” Shapiro said outside the residence, where fire damage was visible. “This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society, and I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other … one particular party or another or one particular person or another, it is not OK. And it has to stop. We have to be better than this.”
Photos of the residence released by state officials show significant fire damage to the rooms inside, where walls and ceilings were charred and debris littered the floor.
The governor said he and Lori are “grateful” to law enforcement and first responders for keeping them safe. The Shapiros also have a home in Montgomery County.
“Your prayers lift us up,” Shapiro said. “We appreciate the light that you have shined upon us.”
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