The accused man in relation to a fire caused in the house of the governor of Pennsylvania Josh Shapiro during the weekend supposedly uploaded the fence of the residence, used a hammer to break a window and threw Molotov cocktails to begin the fire, the prosecutors revealed.
Cody A. Balmer, 38, was accused of attempted criminal homicide, caused fire, robbery, terrorism and other positions in relation to the early attack on Sunday morning, announced on Monday the Office of the District District Prosecutor of Dauphin County.
Shapiro and the first lady Lori Shapiro, as well as other guests and personal, were inside the Harrisburg residence when the fire exploded around 2 in the morning, no one was injured in the fire, and the governor’s family was evacuated safely. However, prosecutors said the residence suffered a “substantial damage.”
Balmer became the state police of Pennsylvania on Sunday and admitted “host hatred towards Governor Shapiro.”
When asked during a police interview what he would have done if Shapiro found him inside the residence, “he advised that he would have hit him with his hammer,” said the sworn statement of probable cause.
The attack
Balmer was caught in security cameras both inside and outside the residence, authorities said. It was seen with a black “Snap-on” jacket, black boots and wearing a bag.
The video surveillance images showed the suspicious climbing on an exterior fence of the Shapiro residence, approaching the windows of the piano room on the south side of the house and breaking an exterior window with a hammer, said the criminal affidavit. Then he threw a Molotov cocktail inside the broken glass. Shortly after, flames were seen inside the house, said the sworn statement of probable cause.
Balmer then moved to an adjacent window, broke the glass and entered the house through the broken window, said the sworn statement. Once inside, it deployed a second incendiary device in the dining room that caused another fire.
The affidavit establishes that Balmer moved towards the exit of the dining room. The surveillance images showed him by wearing two gloves of different colors: one orange and another yellow. He was seen kicking the dining room door and leaving the residence. He left the property in the same direction in which he entered, climbing on the perimeter fence, running through a parking lot and then fleeing from the residence in a southeast direction, said the affidavit.
The researchers found two broken glass beer bottles that contain gasoline in the residence dining room.
The researchers also gathered videos of private property security cameras and discovered that the suspect had fled east on Peffer Street. A sweeping of Peffer Street led researchers to locate the gloves that coincided with the suspects in a garbage can. The gloves had a “strong smell of gasoline emanating from them,” said the criminal affidavit.
Become
The State Police of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg was contacted by a woman who said she was the former Balmer parameter. She said Balmer confessed the act and “wanted her to call the police to deliver it,” said the affidavit.
A short time later, Balmer approached a soldier of the State Police of Pennsylvania at the department’s headquarters. He said he was “responsible” for the fire in the Governor’s residence and “wanted to surrender.” He was transported to the State Police office of Pennsylvania in Harrisburg, where he was interviewed, said the affidavit.
During the interview, he confessed his sick feelings towards Shapiro.
He told the researchers that he eliminated the gasoline of a grass cutter and poured it into bottles of beer he found at home, then walked for an hour to the Governor’s residence with the intention of throwing the homemade cocktails of Molotov into the house.
He admitted that he climbed the perimeter fence, broke two windows with a hammer and threw the Molotov cocktails inside. Balmer said that after leaving the governor’s residence, he returned to his own home and removed the clothes he used during the attack, according to the sworn statement.
The soldiers responded to their home and confiscated the “Snap-on” jacket, a black bag and a small deck “, which were identical to those observed in surveillance in the governor’s residence,” said the affidavit.
Balmer also told the researchers that he knew that his actions would result in “negative consequences” and knew that it was possible that Shapiro and others were at home at that time and that they could have been damaged, according to the affidavit.
Balmer was transported to Dauphin County prison for reading charges.
