UPDATE: Cody Balmer was arraigned on Monday, April 14, and his bail was denied. Get the latest details here.
The man who attempted to burn down the Governor’s Residence early Sunday while Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept allegedly told police he used homemade Molotov cocktails, knew it was a “possibility” Shapiro and members of his family were home at the time and could be hurt in a fire, and planned to attack the governor with a hammer had he been confronted, according to court documents.
In documents that NBC Philadelphia obtained early Monday, police officials claim Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg told officers in an interview after his apprehension that he had harbored hatred for the governor before he threw two Molotov cocktails into the Governor’s Residence in Harrisburg around 2 a.m. on Sunday, April 13.
Arson suspect Cody Balmer in a booking photo released by the Pennsylvania State Police.According to court documents, 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.
The incident at the Governor’s Residence
The man seen in the footage then moved to an adjacent window as flames began to grow in the interior of the residence and broke the glass before he entered the home, court documents noted.
Once inside, the man who police believe was Balmer, deployed a second incendiary device inside the dining room, according to court documents.
Court documents claim Balmer fled the scene after he threw the second Molotov cocktail.
In a lunchtime press conference, Harrisburg Fire Department Chief Brian Enterline said the Governor’s Residence has no fire suppression system and the fire could have easily spread, 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.
“It would have been a totally different fire and a totally different outcome, most likely, had that door not been closed,” Enterline said.
During his comments, Enterline didn’t mince words. He called the incident a terror attack.
“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.”
Also, while he wasn’t certain, Enterline said he felt “confident” that 25 people were evacuated from the Governor’s Residence during the incident.
The follow-up investigation found broken Heineken beer bottles in the home that had been filled with gasoline, court documents note, and two gloves — one orange and one yellow — were recovered in a garbage can along a path that officials believe Balmer took as he fled the residence.
Officials claim the gloves smelled like gasoline.
As police were investigating the scene on Sunday, a woman who claimed to be Balmer’s “ex-paramour” called police to say that he contacted her because he wanted to turn himself in, according to court documents.
A short time later Balmer turned himself in at the Pa. State Police headquarters located along Elmerton Avenue in Harrisburg, court documents say.
‘He would have beaten him with his hammer’
In an interview with police after turning himself in, Balmer agreed to speak to troopers after being advised of his Miranda rights and “admitted to harboring hatred towards Gov. Shapiro,” according to court documents.
He told police he took gasoline from a lawn mower at his Harrisburg home and poured it into beer bottles at his home before he walked about an hour to the Governor’s Residence, court documents claim.
At the residence, Balmer told troopers he broke windows with a hammer he brought from home and threw the Molotov cocktails inside, according to police.
When asked if he knew Shapiro was present at the home with members of his family, and that they could be hurt in this incident, court documents claim Balmer told troopers that he was “aware this was a possibility.”
“Balmer was asked specifically what he would have done if Governor Shapiro found him inside of his residence, to which he advised he would have beaten him with his hammer,” court documents say.
Also, as detailed in court documents, during a follow-up investigation at Balmer’s home, police recovered what they believe were the jacket, pants, bag and a small sledge hammer that “were identical” to what the attacker was seen using in surveillance footage of the attack.
Balmer has been charged with attempted murder, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism, reckless endangerment, aggravated assault and related offenses.
He is currently in police custody awaiting a preliminary hearing, officials said.
However, in a morning update, state police officials said that, “due to a medical event not connected to this incident or his arrest,” Balmer had been taken to a nearby hospital where he is receiving treatment.
Balmer’s attorney, Colton Whitener, also told NBC10 on Monday that his client is hospitalized.
“Currently, Mr. Balmer is hospitalized and unable to communicate due to his medical condition. He has yet to be arraigned on the charges,” Whitener wrote. “We are declining any comments regarding the allegations against Mr. Balmer until more information is learned.”
Police officials did not detail the nature of Balmer’s injuries, but they said that once his treatment is completed, he will be taken to the Dauphin County Prison for arraignment.
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