Man charged with arson at Pennsylvania governor’s home struggled with mental health, brother says

HARRISBURG, Pa. (AP) — A man accused of setting fire to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s mansion over the weekend had struggled with mental illness, twice being treated at a psychiatric hospital, as his life unraveled dramatically in the past few years, his brother said Tuesday.

Cody Balmer, 38, had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder but didn’t believe the assessment, his brother, Dan Balmer, told The Associated Press. He said he twice helped Cody get treatment at the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute.

Authorities allege Cody Balmer scaled an iron security fence, eluded police and set the Democratic governor’s official residence ablaze early Sunday morning. Investigators were combing his background to try to determine any motive for the attack, including whether it had anything to do with Shapiro’s politics or Jewish faith.

Dan Balmer said his brother had displayed concerning behavior, including the night before the fire, when he flipped over a table with a jigsaw puzzle on top at the home where Cody Balmer lived with their parents.

Cody Balmer previously was charged with punching relatives during a 2023 fight in which he was accused of stepping on a child’s broken leg — a case still unresolved. Court records also show he had child custody cases with two women and had faced foreclosure.

“He’s had ups and downs his whole life with the bipolar,” Dan Balmer said. “He doesn’t believe he’s bipolar, so he doesn’t take his medicine.”

Cody Balmer also believed his sister-in-law was a witch who had cast a spell on him, Dan Balmer said. He said his brother had a grudge against the woman because she pressed for him to get inpatient psychiatric care.

The brothers also disagreed on politics. Cody Balmer, who is registered as an unaffiliated voter, had always been politically interested and considered himself “more of an independent than anything else,” but tried to convince the family to vote for Donald Trump in the 2024 presidential election, said his brother, a Democrat.

Suspect was living with family members

An electrical engineer who lives in the Harrisburg suburbs, Dan Balmer said he gave his brother a place to live a couple of years ago because he couldn’t afford his apartment.

Cody Balmer seemed like he needed help and agreed to enter the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute, but soon “got mad and left” the facility, Dan Balmer said.

“He had these theories that were going on in his head,” Dan Balmer said. “We would confront him and say, ‘No, that is not what is happening in the real world.’ He would get angry.”

Police were called and crisis intervention became involved before Cody Balmer went back to the Pennsylvania Psychiatric Institute less voluntarily, as a sort of condition of being able to stay with family, Dan Balmer recalled.

“He was there for a while. He got the clear bill of health. He was on his meds,” Dan Balmer said.

He said problems arose when Cody brought home women, some he knew from the hospital. When he was told he had to leave, Cody Balmer took it well and left quickly, his brother said.

He moved into an apartment his parents rented, then moved with them to a rental house in a working-class neighborhood of Harrisburg, Dan Balmer said.

When he appeared before a judge Monday, Cody Balmer said he was an unemployed welder with no income or savings.

Fire caused significant damage and forced an evacuation

Cody Balmer was denied bail and held on charges including attempted homicide, terrorism and arson in the attack, the latest case of violence against political figures in the U.S.

He did not enter a plea. He had told police he planned to beat Shapiro with a small sledgehammer if he encountered him after breaking into the building, according to court documents.

Balmer appeared to have carefully planned the attack and was inside the residence for about a minute before escaping, police said. Authorities alleged he hopped over a nearly 7-foot-high (2-meter-high) security fence surrounding the property, eluded officers and forcibly entered the residence before setting it on fire with Molotov cocktails made from beer bottles filled with gasoline.

The fire caused significant damage and forced Shapiro, his family and guests, including other relatives, to evacuate the building early Sunday. The residence, built in 1968, did not have sprinklers, and the damage could be in the millions of dollars, Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline said.

Shapiro said he, his wife, their four children, two dogs and another family had celebrated the Jewish holiday of Passover on Saturday night in the room where the fire was started. They were awakened by state troopers pounding on their doors about 2 a.m. Sunday. They fled and firefighters extinguished the fire, officials said. No one was injured.

Balmer had walked an hour from home to the governor’s residence, and during a police interview “admitted to harboring hatred towards Governor Shapiro,” according to a police affidavit that did not expand on that point.

Balmer turned himself in at state police headquarters after confessing to his former partner and asking her to call police, the affidavit said.