Police have said that a man has been arrested and will face accusations, including an attempted murder, terrorism and an attempted criminal fire, in a fire early in the morning which seriously damaged the manor of the Governor of Pennsylvania and forced Governor Josh Shapiro and his family to quickly escape.
Sunday’s announcement intervened after Shapiro and his family were evacuated during the night of the official governor’s residence after someone set fire to the building. Shapiro told a press conference in the afternoon as he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family who celebrated Passover on Saturday were inside the house when they were awakened by state soldiers.
No one was injured and the fire died, according to the authorities.
Pennsylvania police colonel, Colonel Christopher Paris, identified the man in detention as Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. Paris underlined during a press conference on Sunday afternoon that the investigation continues.
The Dauphin County District Prosecutor Francis Chardo said that future accusations will understand murder, terrorism, criminal fire attempts and serious assault.
The authorities said that the suspect had jumped a fence surrounding the property and entered the residence before setting it on fire.
Police sub-commissioner George Bivens said Balmer had a homemade incendiary apparatus and eluded the police, who knew there was a violation.
“I am obviously emotional,” said Shapiro at the press conference. “When we were in the dining room of the state last night, we told the story of Passover” and the story of the Jewish exodus of Bondage, he said. “I refuse to be trapped by the slavery that someone tried to put me by attacking us as he did last night.”
State police have not given any other details on the cause of the fire at the Susquehanna river manor, but said that he had caused a “significant number of damages” to part of the residence. Shapiro and his family were sleeping in another part of the residence, the police said.
Shapiro, considered a potential pretender to the White House for the Democratic Party in 2028, said that he had received aid promises from the Ministry of Justice, the FBI and the US prosecutor’s office, as well as many messages of support from other governors and others.
Harrisburg’s office of Fire was called to the residence and, while working to turn off the fire, the police evacuated the residence family, said Shapiro.
Sunday, the damage caused by fire was visible on the south side of the residence, mainly in a large room often used to entertain crowds and art exhibitions. Large windows oriented to the west completely lacked their windows, and the doors stood out in the middle of signs of carbonization.
On Sunday, there was a police presence when the yellow ribbon completed with an alley, the investigators observed the damage inside and an officer led a dog outside an iron safety fence before the investigators were found from a section of the top of the safety fence on the south side of the residence. They wrapped it in heavy black plastic and won in a vehicle.
Shapiro shares his time between the manor that housed governors since its construction in the 1960s and a house in Abington, about 160 kilometers in the east. He published a photo on the social networks of the family’s table at the residence on Saturday.
Last night at the Governor’s residence, we experienced an attack not only against our family, but throughout the Pennsylvania Commonwealth.
This kind of violence has become far too common in our society, and it must stop. pic.twitter.com/5hp5jsvgfc
The former governor of Pennsylvania, Mark Schweiker, a Republican, described the attack on “contemptible act of cowardice” and said that he hoped that the Pennsylvanians joined him and his wife to keep the Shapiros in their prayers.
Former Governor Tom Ridge, also a republican, said that damage images at the residence where he lived for eight years with his family was “heartbreaking” and that the attack on the official residence was shocking.
“Whoever is responsible for this attack – both for Shapiro’s family and our Commonwealth – must be taken into account,” said Ridge.
