Gone quiet · last update Oct 14, 2025 / Josh Shapiro
The arson attack on Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro's residence
Overview · reviewed October 28, 2026
Early on April 13, 2025, a man scaled the security fence at Pennsylvania's Governor's Residence in Harrisburg and set it on fire with gasoline-filled beer bottles while Gov. Josh Shapiro and his family slept inside; they were evacuated safely.[1][2]Cody Balmer, 38, surrendered and was charged with attempted homicide, terrorism and arson, and in October 2025 he pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges.[3][2]
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Cody Balmer, 38, surrendered and was charged with attempted homicide, terrorism and arson, and in October 2025 he pleaded guilty to attempted murder and other charges.[3][2]
Coverage over time
Share of tracked outlets · weekly (UTC)
25%0%
Apr 20252026this week
LeftCenterRightLighter bar: this week so far
Each bar is the share of the outlets on our Left / Center / Right rating scale that we tracked publishing that week which carried reporting on this story, split by the outlets' ratings. We track more outlets now than in the archive, so a share keeps earlier and later weeks comparable. An outlet counts once a week however much it published, and outlets in one ownership or syndication group count as one on each side they appear on. A rating describes the outlet, not the report. A gap means no such reports were collected that week, not that nothing was reported anywhere. Weeks run Monday to Sunday in UTC, so a report published on a Sunday evening in US Eastern time counts in the next week. 4 more outlets off the scale (not rated, or outside the left-right graphs) also reported; they are not in this chart. See them.
Weekly counts, outlets and reports (4 weeks with coverage)
Outlets on the rating scale that carried this story each week, of the outlets tracked that week, newest first
Shapiro said an "arsonist set fire" to the residence,[1] and police said Balmer had confessed;[4] he allegedly told police he would have attacked Shapiro.[3] Shapiro later thanked the Harrisburg firefighters who responded,[5] and President Donald Trump's muted reaction drew notice for its contrast with Shapiro's response to the attempt on Trump's life the year before.[6]
