'I Woke Up To Yelling In The Hallway': PA Gov Recounts Arson Attack

HARRISBURG, PA — "I woke up to yelling in the hallway. A few seconds later, there was a bang on the door."

Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro painted a vivid portrait Wednesday of awakening to the April 13 arson attack that badly damaged his residence at 2 a.m. while he and his family were sleeping inside the home.

In an essay published in The New York Times, Shapiro recalled walking through the home with Harrisburg Bureau of Fire Chief Brian Enterline once the fire was extinguished to assess the damage through the smell of smoke and the dripping of water from the ceiling.

“The beautiful state dining room — where my family and I celebrated our Passover Seder with family and community just a few hours earlier — was completely destroyed,” he stated.

Authorities believe Cody Balmer, 38, of Harrisburg, attempted to kill Shapiro and his family by tossing Molotov cocktails into the home. He is facing charges of criminal attempted homicide, aggravated arson, burglary, terrorism and two counts of aggravated assault.

Shapiro did not indicate in the essay whether he believed he and his family were the victims of an antisemitic act.

“I believe in the rule of law, and for the rule of law to work, prosecutors and law enforcement officials need to be able to do their jobs and investigate without fear, favor or political pressure,” Shapiro stated. “It is not my job to opine on what the motive was or what the charges should be.”

On Tuesday, Shapiro revealed that President Donald Trump called him last weekend to discuss the incident.

According to NBC News, Shapiro said, "I appreciated that the president called me. I actually didn’t take his call because it came from his cellphone and I didn’t have that number in my phone, so I didn’t know who it was. As soon as I heard his message, I called him right back."

Shapiro said the president was "very gracious." He added that Trump asked about his wife and children as they "talked for a couple minutes about what transpired at the residence."

Shapiro, speaking with reporters after the attack, recounted the hours preceding the incident.

“Everybody was just enjoying one another and spending time celebrating not just the holiday but each other and enjoying each other’s company,” he said. Around midnight, they went upstairs and “spent an hour yelling at the kids to go to bed and they didn’t listen.”

"Said goodnight to the kids, got the dogs situated, and I'd say probably fell asleep around 1 o’clock in the morning,” Shapiro said.

He said less than an hour later, he heard yelling in the hallway. "It was one of the state troopers running down the hallway, and he banged on the door. I don’t know how he did it, but it wasn’t a knock. It was more of a bang,” he said.

Shapiro said he and his wife, Lori, were told there was a fire and they had to evacuate immediately.

“I would say within just a few seconds we ran to each of the doors in the hallway, to open them up and get the kids up, get the dogs up and usher everybody down a back stairwell," he said. "And we followed the troopers out to the driveway area, and we were asked multiple times if everyone was present and accounted for. They were. Troopers and Capitol Police kept us safe.” Firefighters converged on the property.

Shapiro said first responders repeatedly made sure no one was missing.

He said they were able to gather a few items from the house. They returned to the house the next morning to see the damage.

“To see those spots that are charred and burned out and glass broken around the areas that before were happy, special places for us is tough," he said.

The story includes reporting from the Associated Press.