{"id":723,"date":"2025-10-15T03:55:22","date_gmt":"2025-10-15T03:55:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/723\/"},"modified":"2025-10-15T03:55:22","modified_gmt":"2025-10-15T03:55:22","slug":"what-to-know-about-guilty-plea-in-attempted-murder-of-pennsylvania-gov-shapiro","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/723\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about guilty plea in attempted murder of Pennsylvania Gov. Shapiro"},"content":{"rendered":"

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) \u2014 A 38-year-old man pleaded guilty<\/a> Tuesday to charges including attempted murder and arson for setting fires inside the official residence<\/a> of Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro while Shapiro, his family and others were inside.<\/p>\n

Cody Balmer was sentenced under a plea deal to 25 to 50 years in state prison. <\/p>\n

No one was injured but the April 13 fire did considerable damage to the governor\u2019s mansion. Shapiro said the attack has made his family feel unsafe. He said he supports the plea agreement.<\/p>\n

What to know about the case:<\/p>\n

How was the fire set? <\/p>\n

Authorities say Balmer climbed over an iron security fence, used gasoline in beer bottles to ignite a dining room and entertaining space, broke a window to crawl inside, then kicked at a door leading to where the Shapiros and guests were sleeping but didn\u2019t get through. He walked back out, never encountering state police on the property. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This image made from a surveillance video provided by the Dauphin County District Attorney\u2019s Office shows Cody Balmer throwing a Molotov cocktail in governor\u2019s mansion on April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (Dauphin County District Attorney\u2019s Office via AP)<\/p>\n

This image made from a surveillance video provided by the Dauphin County District Attorney\u2019s Office shows Cody Balmer throwing a Molotov cocktail in governor\u2019s mansion on April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (Dauphin County District Attorney\u2019s Office via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Hours earlier, Shapiro, his family and their overnight guests had celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover with a Seder. They were awakened by state police and ushered to safety.<\/p>\n

Balmer called 911 and walked to a state police facility the following afternoon to turn himself in. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Cody<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

Why did he attack the governor\u2019s mansion?<\/p>\n

Balmer\u2019s family said he had received mental health<\/a> treatment but struggled after he stopped taking medication. District Attorney Fran Chardo said at a news conference Tuesday that Balmer had expressed concern about the war<\/a> in Gaza and somehow saw the attack as a response to deaths in that conflict.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Dauphin<\/p>\n

Dauphin County District Attorney Francis T. Chardo speaks during a news conference, after Cody Balmer, accused setting a fire at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s official residence, made a court appearance at Dauphin County Courthouse on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025 in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo\/Matt Slocum)<\/p>\n

Dauphin County District Attorney Francis T. Chardo speaks during a news conference, after Cody Balmer, accused setting a fire at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro\u2019s official residence, made a court appearance at Dauphin County Courthouse on Tuesday, Oct. 14, 2025 in Harrisburg, Pa. (AP Photo\/Matt Slocum)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

Balmer told The Associated Press in a May letter from jail that Shapiro\u2019s Jewish faith had not been a factor.<\/p>\n

What has the governor said about it?<\/p>\n

A statement by Shapiro and his wife, Lori, was read in court, describing how their sense of personal safety and security was changed by the attack. Some family members have had difficulty sleeping, they said, and there is now \u201ca fear and anxiety we are learning to live with.\u201d They said the damage and the repair work are constant reminders of what happened. <\/p>\n

After the hearing, the governor told reporters he and his wife have struggled to make sense of it. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"This<\/p>\n

This image made from a surveillance video provided by the Dauphin County District Attorney\u2019s Office shows Cody Balmer holding a Molotov cocktail and striking at a door leading to where Gov. Josh Shapiro, his family and guests slept in the governor\u2019s mansion on April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (Dauphin County District Attorney\u2019s Office via AP)<\/p>\n

This image made from a surveillance video provided by the Dauphin County District Attorney\u2019s Office shows Cody Balmer holding a Molotov cocktail and striking at a door leading to where Gov. Josh Shapiro, his family and guests slept in the governor\u2019s mansion on April 13, 2025, in Harrisburg, Pa. (Dauphin County District Attorney\u2019s Office via AP)<\/p>\n

Read More<\/p>\n

He said it was difficult to even say the words \u201cattempted murder\u201d aloud knowing he was the target. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s especially hard to know that he tried to burn our family to death while we slept,\u201d Shapiro said.<\/p>\n

What happened to the building?<\/p>\n

The fire charred walls, tables, dishes and a piano, and damaged window panes and brickwork at the five-decade-old residence, which didn\u2019t have sprinklers. <\/p>\n

The property in Harrisburg along the Susquehanna River was reopened to the public as the cleanup and rebuilding began<\/a>, and it\u2019s getting security<\/a> upgrades including an anti-climb fence<\/a> after a consultant\u2019s security review. The findings of that review weren\u2019t publicly disclosed. <\/p>\n

The cost of the damage is expected to exceed a million dollars.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) \u2014 A 38-year-old man pleaded guilty Tuesday to charges including attempted murder and arson for…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":724,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[36,32,31,35,38,33,40,28,30,29,903,44],"class_list":["post-723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pennsylvania","tag-arson","tag-cody-balmer","tag-crime","tag-fires","tag-general-news","tag-josh-shapiro","tag-pa-state-wire","tag-pennsylvania","tag-pennsylvania-headlines","tag-pennsylvania-news","tag-prisons","tag-u-s-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/724"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-pa\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}