Man sets fire to Gov. Josh Shapiro residence with family inside

Official governor's residence in US state of Pennsylvania targeted in suspected arson attack — Source: Anadolu / Getty

Police are investigating an incident after a man set fire to the house of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro, with his family was inside the residence, according to officials.

Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, is currently in custody and will be charged with attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated arson and aggravated assault, according to Dauphin County District Attorney Francis Chardo.

Authorities stated that Balmer hopped over a fence surrounding the property and forcibly entered the residence before setting it on fire. Police deputy commissioner George Bivens believed that Balmer was inside the residence for less than a minute, and had a homemade incendiary device and evaded police who knew there had been a breach.

“He actively evaded troopers who were here to secure the residence even while they were searching for him on the property,” Bivens said. “While they were searching, is when he attacked at the residence, broke in and set the fires.”

According to documents obtained by NBC10, in an interview with police after his arrest, Balmer told officers that he had harbored hatred for the governor before he threw two Molotov cocktails into the Governor’s Residence on North Front Street in Harrisburg around 2 a.m. on Sunday, April 13, 2025.

Court documents also revealed that Balmer could be seen on surveillance footage after he climbed over an exterior fence — while wearing a black “Snap-On” jacket, black boots, two different colored gloves, one orange and one yellow, and carrying a bag — and approached a piano room at the property where he, allegedly, threw one homemade incendiary device through a broken window.

In a lunchtime press conference, Harrisburg Fire Department Chief Brian Enterline said the Governor’s Residence has no fire suppression system. Enterline stated if it wasn’t for a large door between the ballroom and hallway leading to the second floor having been closed when the incident happened, the fire could have easily spread

“It would have been a totally different fire and a totally different outcome, most likely, had that door not been closed,” Enterline said.

Enterline did not hold back on his words when explaining what he labled an act of terror.

“This fire was meant to get that satisfaction of ‘I was able to displace the governor, I was able to attack the governor,” said Enterline. “This was a personal attack on the governor of Pennsylvania.”

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