Police say a person is in custody after a suspected arson fire at the Pennsylvania governor’s mansionwhere Josh Shapiro and his family were evacuated after someone set fire to the building.
No one was injured in the blaze and the fire was extinguished, authorities said.
Pennsylvania state police Col. Christopher Paris identified the man in custody as Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg. Paris emphasized at a Sunday afternoon news conference that the investigation is continuing.
Francis Chardo, the Dauphin county district attorney, said that forthcoming charges will include attempted murder, terrorism, attempted arson and aggravated assault.
Authorities said the suspect hopped over a fence surrounding the property and forcibly entered the residence before setting it on fire.
The fire broke out overnight on the first night of the Jewish holiday of Passover, which Shapiro and his family had celebrated at the governor’s official residence in the state capital of Harrisburg. State police said in a statement that, while the investigation was ongoing, they were “prepared to say at this time that this was an act of arson”.
In a statement, Shapiro, viewed as a potential White House contender for the Democratic party in 2028, said he and his family woke up at about 2am to bangs on the door from the Pennsylvania state police after the fire broke out.
The Harrisburg bureau of fire was called to the residence and, while they worked to put out the fire, police evacuated Shapiro and his family from the residence safely, the governor said.
Authorities said the fire caused a “significant amount of damage” to a portion of the residence before the blaze was extinguished.
“Thank God no one was injured and the fire was extinguished,” Shapiro said in a statement.
Shapiro and his family had been in a different part of the residence, police said.
There was a police presence on Sunday as yellow tape cordoned off an alleyway, investigators observed the damage inside and an officer led a dog outside an iron security fence before investigators sawed off a section from the top of the security fence on the residence’s south side. They wrapped it in heavy black plastic and took it away in a vehicle.
Shapiro splits his time between the mansion that has housed governors since it was built in the 1960s and a home in Abington, about 100 miles (160km) east. He posted a photograph on social media on Saturday of the family’s Passover Seder table at the residence.
Republican Mark Schweiker, the former Pennsylvania governor, called the attack a “despicable act of cowardice” and said he hoped Pennsylvanians joined he and his wife in keeping the Shapiros in their prayers.
Republican Tom Ridge, another former governor, said images of the damage to the residence where he lived for eight years with his family were “heartbreaking” and said the attack on the official residence was shocking.
“Whoever is responsible for this attack – to both the Shapiro family and our Commonwealth – must be held to account,” Ridge said.
State police said they were leading a multiagency investigation into the fire.
