Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family were forced to flee the governor's official residence early Sunday after an arson attack severely damaged the mansion.
Authorities arrested a man who said he had broken into a mansion in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and threw things into the house that caused at least two fires and caused serious damage. No one was injured in the attack.
The man they identified as Cody Bermer, 38, has been charged with attempted murder, worsening arson, terrorism and other crimes. Law enforcement officers do not provide any information regarding their motives.
This is what you need to know about attacks.
Governor Shapiro and his family were asleep when the fire broke out.
Shapiro said he, his wife and children were awakened just after 2am by a state trooper who warned them of the fire. They were rushing to safety while firefighters were extinguishing the flames, he said. The FBI was supporting the investigation, he added.
Shapiro, a Democrat, became prominent last year when he was on a short list of possible running buddies for President's party candidate Kamala Harris. He oversaw law enforcement responses to an attempted assassination of Donald J. Trump in Butler, Pennsylvania, and was campaigning for the president at the time.
The 51-year-old governor says there are too many slanderous words in American politics, but noted that the attack on the residence came shortly after his family and other members of the local Jewish community celebrated the first night of Passover in the state's dining room.
The suspect admitted to causing the fire, officials said.
Officials said surveillance footage showed people checking out the governor's mansion before using a hammer to break the window on the south side of the residence. The Dauphin County District Attorney said in a statement that he lit the fire and threw things into the house.
He then entered the building through an eastern window, threw at least one more object into the house, and began setting up another fire before he could escape, the district attorney said.
When state police noticed a security breach on their property, they said they were looking for an intruder. However, within minutes, authorities said Ballmer had broken in, set fire to escape.
He was arrested in Harrisburg on Sunday afternoon, officials said at a press conference. He admitted to the state troopers that he was charged with a fire, attempted murder, worsening arson, robbery, terrorism and related crimes, the District Attorney's Office said.
According to an affidavit, which filed the charges early Monday, the woman contacted police and told her that her former partner, Ballmer, had confessed to her that she had committed the attack. He later surrendered himself to the state police headquarters in Harrisburg, the affidavit said.
When the Statetroopers questioned him and asked him what he had done if Shapiro found him, Ballmer said he beat the governor with his hammer, the affidavit said.
The governor's residence was heavily damaged.
Authorities say the fire caused significant damage to some of the residence, particularly the food and piano rooms.
Photos released by authorities showed sung walls, broken windows and blackened floors.
According to the state government, the governor's residence is a 29,000-square-foot Georgian-style building on the Susquehanna River, completed in 1968. Its landscaping grounds occupy a complete block of about a mile and a half from the State Capitol complex.
The public can visit the residence on the first floor, displaying art and artifacts.
