Arson suspect who allegedly targeted Gov. Josh Shapiro is ‘mentally ill,’ mother says

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PENBROOK — The man who police say set fire to Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s official residence and planned to beat Shapiro with a hammer is “mentally ill,” his mother told CBS News.

Conversations with 38-year-old Cody Balmer’s family and neighbors and a review of public information reveal a chronically troubled man with young children who did not seem to have a strong political ideology.

His mother, Christie Balmer, told CBS News that her son “is mentally ill and he went off his medication.”

She tried to get him “picked up” last week and contacted four police departments, she told the news outlet, but “couldn’t get anybody to help. So he was mentally ill, went off his meds, and this is what happened.”

A neighbor, who spoke to Spotlight PA but requested anonymity to protect Balmer’s family’s privacy, said that Cody Balmer suffers from mental health issues that had escalated in recent months.

“It’s unfortunate it had to come to something this extreme for it to stop,” they said.

Balmer worked as a mechanic, according to his social media. Sheriff’s sale data shows he faced foreclosure for a home just outside of Harrisburg in late 2024; that home is condemned as of Monday morning.

Balmer’s frequent Facebook posts were generally irreverent, but occasionally political.

He shared a handful of posts in early 2021 saying that former President Joe Biden owed him $2,000, referencing a campaign promise.

Few posts show partisan loyalty.

“If your guy won today fantastic have a good time…. within reason,” Balmer wrote in a comment on the day Pennsylvania’s presidential election was called for Biden in 2020. “If your guy didn’t go on with life for now.”

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