Suspect arrested after arson at Pennsylvania governor’s house forced Shapiro and family to evacuate

By Zoe Sottile and Ali Main, CNN

(CNN) — A 38-year-old man has been arrested in connection with an arson fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s house as the governor and his family slept inside.

Harrisburg Bureau of Fire responded to the fire around 2 a.m. and extinguished it, but the building was left with “a significant amount of damage,” according to Pennsylvania State Police.

Gov. Josh Shapiro said that he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family were safely evacuated.

Cody Balmer of Harrisburg was arrested Sunday, Col. Christopher Paris, state police commissioner, said at an afternoon news conference. CNN has reached out to an attorney representing Balmer in another case.

Balmer hasn’t been charged, but Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said he plans to charge him with attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault against an enumerated person. He had some “homemade incendiary devices,” Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police said.

Elected officials have faced a surge in violent threats in recent years – including a plot to kidnap Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2023, election officials receiving death threats in Georgia, and two assassination attempts against President Donald Trump last year.

Balmer came over a fence around the residence and “forcibly entered” the home before setting the fire, Chardo said. He was inside the governor’s residence for less than a minute, Bivens said.

“He clearly had a plan,” Bivens said. “He was very methodical in his approach.”

The attack was “targeted” but a specific motive is still unknown, Shapiro said at the conference.

The governor emphasized his refusal to be “deterred” in his work. “If this individual was trying to deter me from doing my job as your governor, rest assured, I will find a way to work even harder than I was,” he said.

Shapiro noted that he and his family had celebrated the first night of Passover earlier that evening before the fire.

“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 on this: we celebrated our faith last night, proudly and in a few hours, we will celebrate our second Seder of Passover,” he said.

“No one will deter me or my family, or any Pennsylvanian from celebrating their faith openly and proudly.”

Shapiro, 51, was elected Pennsylvania governor in 2022 after spending six years as state attorney general. A prominent Democrat, he was one of several candidates named as a possible running mate for former Vice President Kamala Harris during her 2024 presidential bid – and he’s been floated as a possible presidential candidate himself for the 2028 election.

In a post on X, Shapiro described how he and his family “woke up to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania State Police after an arsonist set fire to the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg.”

“Every day, we stand with the law enforcement and first responders who run towards danger to protect our communities,” he said. “Last night, they did so for our family – and Lori and I are eternally grateful to them for keeping us safe.”

A security review is underway “to determine how we can ensure that we don’t have a repeat of a situation like this,” Bivens said. Shapiro said he had “total confidence in the Pennsylvania State Police.”

The FBI’s Philadelphia field office is assisting state police in its investigation, the agency told CNN in an email.

Shapiro said the fire was an attack not just on his family but on “the entire Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.”

Still, “I’m not fearful,” he said. “I’m obviously emotional, worried about my family. I want my kids to be OK.”

Sen. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania described the attack as “truly appalling” in a post on X.

“Whoever did this must be held to the fullest extent of the law,” he wrote.

Tom Ridge, a Republican who served as Pennsylvania governor from 1995 to 2001, called images of the damage “heartbreaking” in a post on X.

“All of us should feel safe in our homes, especially when that home is our state’s official residence,” he wrote.

The suspect could also face federal charges, Chardo, the district attorney, said.

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CNN’s Danny Freeman and Amanda Musa contributed to this report.