VIDEO: Investigators say the suspect accused of setting a fire at Pennsylvania Governor Josh Shapiro’s residence told them he walked an hour from his home to the mansion, where he allegedly smashed windows and hurled Molotov cocktails made from Heineken bottles filled with gasoline. “This wasn’t just a fire. This was an act of terrorism that involved fire that we are now in the middle of,” said Harrisburg Fire Chief Brian Enterline. Harrisburg’s fire chief is putting the weekend’s scary events into clear context. It’s been more than 24 hours since Pennsylvania State Police (PSP) say 38-year-old Cody Balmer of Dauphin County jumped a brick wall armed with Molotov cocktails and lit a fire at the governor’s mansion.
The fire chief also shared what was going through firefighters’ minds as the attack unfolded. “We have state government. We have county government. We have federal, all here in our 11-point-one square miles,” said Chief Enterline. “That’s what’s in the back of our minds is this terrorist going elsewhere to do harm to other things as well?” The fire chief did not mince words in calling Balmer a terrorist, saying the fire that ripped through a room set for a Passover dinner could have been much worse.
