New Pictures Present Devastation Inside Pa. Gov. Josh Shapiro’s Dwelling After Hearth

• New images have been launched exhibiting the within of Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s Harrisburg house after it was set on fireplace within the early hours of the morning on Sunday, April 13, in a suspected arson assault
• Photos confirmed melted furnishings and burned tables, with the flooring and partitions of the residence coated in soot
• Authorities have decided the fireplace to be an “act of arson” and are investigating, with Pennsylvania State Police confirming {that a} Harrisburg man, 38-year-old Cody Balmer, had been arrested and charged in reference to the incident

New images have been launched exhibiting the devastation inside Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s Harrisburg house after it was set on fireplace in a suspected arson assault.

On Sunday, April 13, at roughly 2 a.m. native time, “members of the Harrisburg Bureau of Hearth responded to the Governor’s Residence, situated on North Entrance Road, Harrisburg Metropolis, Dauphin County, for the report of a fireplace,” Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) mentioned in a information launch.

Shapiro, 51, was within the house along with his household when he “woke as much as bangs on the door” from the PSP not lengthy after, he wrote in a press release shared on X.

Photos of the aftermath have now been launched, with some exhibiting melted furnishings, burned partitions and the home coated in black soot. 

Different images confirmed a ruined sofa, destroyed plates and tables and chairs and a lightweight swap ripped out of the wall. There was additionally a picture of a “Passover Crafts” signal on a desk after the fireplace broke out on the primary evening of the Jewish vacation of Passover. Hours earlier than the blaze, Shapiro had shared a have a look at his household’s Seder desk on social media.

There have been additionally a few images exhibiting a eating space within the property that miraculously did not seem to have been affected by the fireplace.

In line with the Related Press, it was the south wing of the governor’s residence that had been badly broken.

Authorities have decided the fireplace to be an “act of arson” and are investigating. Pennsylvania State Police introduced afterward Sunday {that a} Harrisburg man, 38-year-old Cody Balmer, had been arrested and charged in reference to the incident.

Lt. Col. George Bivens of the Pennsylvania State Police mentioned the suspect “clearly had a plan” and was “very methodical in his method,” per CNN. Bivens added that the suspect was contained in the governor’s residence for lower than a minute and “actively evaded” troopers who have been trying to find him.

“Whereas the fireplace was efficiently extinguished, it prompted a big quantity of harm to a portion of the residence,” the PSP mentioned in a press release on Sunday.

“The Governor and his household have been current in a special a part of the residence. They have been evacuated safely and weren’t injured,” police added, as Shapiro wrote on X, “Thank God nobody was injured.”

“The sort of violence is just not okay. This sort of violence is changing into far too widespread in our society,” Shapiro then mentioned at a information convention on Sunday in a clip shared on X, confirming they did not but know the suspect’s particular motive for the assault.

Shapiro and his spouse, Lori Shapiro, married in 1997 and share 4 youngsters: Sophia, Jonah, Max and Reuben. It’s unclear what number of of their youngsters have been within the house throughout the fireplace.

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Shapiro, a Democrat, was sworn in because the forty eighth governor of Pennsylvania in January 2023. He beforehand served as lawyer common from 2017 to 2023, chair of the board of commissioners in Montgomery County from 2011 to 2017 and state consultant from 2005 to 2011, per the state’s web site.

PEOPLE reached out to the PSP for extra info on Sunday, April 13.