Break-in and arson at Pennsylvania governor’s residence draws scrutiny on security measures

By Zoe Sottile, Josh Campbell and Danny Freeman, CNN

(CNN) — A break-in and arson at Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro’s residence has cast scrutiny on its security, as authorities work to understand how a suspect was able to enter the home and escape without being apprehended – even as officers searched for him.

The fire early Sunday resulted in a “significant amount of damage” to the Harrisburg residence, though Shapiro, a prominent Democrat, and his family were safely evacuated. But law enforcement and security experts who spoke to CNN indicated this weekend’s incident appeared to stem from several lapses that underscore a need for a thorough review of the security measures in place.

“The scope of the security failure here is just hard to get your hands around,” said former FBI Deputy Director Andrew McCabe.

“So many things happened, and each one of those things should never have happened if there was an adequate security plan and surveillance and technology in place,” McCabe said.

Troopers in the Executive Services Office of the Pennsylvania State Police are tasked with protecting the governor, according to a 2017 legislative committee report, which then counted 23 troopers among their ranks. Sunday, the governor stressed his “total confidence” in the agency.

But the incident is seen by many within the agency as a failure, and some personnel could face discipline, according to a source familiar with the investigation.

A security review is now underway “to determine how we can ensure that we don’t have a repeat situation like this,” Pennsylvania State Police Lt. Col. George Bivens told reporters Sunday. Asked questions about security and the incident, State Police told CNN Monday it could not offer additional information, citing “operational security concerns.”

The investigation into the incident will likely examine whether all staff were at their assigned posts and consider how they responded to the first report from Capitol police. But officials also will likely look at surveillance technology on the property and whether it functioned properly.

Here’s what we know about security measures at the residence – and how a man allegedly hoping to harm the governor was able to evade a system of fences, cameras and sensors in minutes.

Suspect allegedly evaded several layers of defense

The suspect, 38-year-old Cody Balmer, told police he was “harboring hatred” for Shapiro and would have beaten the governor with a hammer, an arrest affidavit says. Balmer turned himself in to police hours after the incident and has been charged with attempted homicide, aggravated arson, terrorism and other charges.

Each step of the break-in should have alerted security officers at the residence, according to Michael Evanoff, a security consultant and former assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security at the US State Department. He described possible failures at multiple levels of “concentric security.”

“If one (part) fails, the other one should have picked it up,” he said.

Jonathan Wackrow, a security consultant and former US Secret Service agent, echoed that, saying the suspect “easily” defeated “multiple layers of defense.”

“First, starting with the perimeter fencing, then the electronic surveillance and detection system, gaining access into the residence and then launching the attack – all while the state police that was providing the protective resource there was unable to locate him.”

Balmer, a mechanic from Harrisburg who faced legal and financial troubles in the past, told police he spent around an hour walking from his home to the governor’s residence, according to the affidavit.

After arriving, he allegedly hopped the fence surrounding the residence and broke two windows with a hammer. He then allegedly threw a Molotov cocktail fashioned from lawnmower gasoline and beer bottles through one of the broken windows – starting a fire – and climbed through the other to enter the home, per the affidavit, which cited security camera footage.

The suspect was on the property for several minutes before the fires began, according to the source familiar with the investigation.

Motion sensors, cameras and alarms

Ideally, motion detection sensors on the fence and the grounds should have picked up an intruder jumping the fence and alerted officers at the property, Evanoff noted. Then, when Balmer allegedly broke the glass of the window, it should have also set off an alarm, Evanoff said. And officers could have used floodlights to instantly light up the areas where motion was detected, making it easy to spot an intruder.

The Pennsylvania Capitol Police first alerted the governor’s security detail of a possible breach of the fence next to a utility pole on the Geiger Street side of the compound, a law enforcement source told CNN.

It’s unclear exactly what alerted officers to the breach, and how many officers were at the property at the time.

The state police security detail then sent officers onto the grounds to investigate whether someone was inside the perimeter, according to a CNN source.

Balmer allegedly broke into the building after troopers had already begun to search for him and “actively evaded” the officers, Bivens explained. The governor’s security “knew that there had been a breach on the property and we were searching to determine what had occurred,” Bivens said.

Then the fire was discovered, and the priority shifted to getting the governor, his family and their guests out of the residence, the law enforcement source said.

The property has numerous security cameras equipped with motion sensor technology that are supposed to be monitored, the source familiar with the investigation told CNN. But there have been numerous past instances where the motion sensors were tripped by squirrels and cats, the source said.

If there were failures in the sensors, that could be due to “antiquated technology,” said Evanoff. He noted most modern security systems can distinguish between small animals and humans. Additionally, an officer should have been monitoring the property’s surveillance cameras 24/7, he added.

Pennsylvania State Police did not answer CNN’s questions about motion sensors at the property and whether an officer was monitoring surveillance camera footage from the property.

Once he was inside, Balmer threw a second incendiary device, causing more flames, the affidavit reads. Balmer then kicked a dining room door down and fled the scene, according to the affidavit.

In total, he was inside the residence for less than a minute, officials said.

State Police didn’t answer CNN’s questions about whether smoke alarms went off at the property. Shapiro described being woken around 2 a.m. by troopers knocking on his door, who helped him and his family evacuate. He lauded the “outstanding work” of responding officers.

Evanoff pointed out this, too, might represent a possible security failure: “If there is some sort of intrusion, then the alarms should make a loud sound,” he said.

Escape marks another potential lapse

Surveillance camera captured Balmer leaving the property the same way he got in – climbing over the fence, the affidavit said.

The intruder’s escape marks another possible failure, according to Charles Ramsey, who previously led police departments in Philadelphia and Washington, DC.

“Had he not decided he wanted to turn himself in, he may still be at large,” Ramsey said of the suspect.

After Balmer fled the scene, a woman who identified herself as his ex-partner called police to say he had confessed to starting the fire, according to the affidavit.

Ramsey noted the “major breach in security” happened overnight, when staffing may have been slim. If there were only a few officers on site, that may have complicated the effort to simultaneously find the intruder while also making sure the governor and his family were safe, he explained.

‘We got lucky’

The incident should provide “all kinds of lessons to learn, not just for the governor of Pennsylvania, but governors around the country and other high-profile elected officials,” Ramsey said.

“They need to check their security and make sure they have adequate security in place,” he said. “We got lucky this time.”

Ramsey called for a third-party, independent review of security measures at the residence.

Former Boston police commissioner Ed Davis pointed out Shapiro is “one of the highest-profile politicians in the country, arguably a leader in the Democratic Party.”

“Someone with this type of profile, you need to take everything very, very seriously in this environment that we’re in,” he told CNN on Sunday. “These are dangerous times.”

The attack took place after the first night of Passover, a major Jewish holiday, which also should have warranted additional security, according to Davis. “Any kind of holiday like that increases the potential for trouble,” he said.

Shapiro, who hosted a Passover dinner at his home just hours before the attack, stressed his pride in his Jewish faith at the Sunday news conference. “No one will deter me or my family, or any Pennsylvanian, from celebrating their faith openly and proudly,” he said.

Training and ‘up-to-date’ systems are key

Evanoff emphasized the importance of training for security teams like that at the governor’s residence. Teams should regularly run drills to make sure they know the protocols in case of an intrusion and test their system’s weak spots, he said. And high-profile figures such as the governor should have the most “up-to-date” security systems, he added. State Police didn’t answer questions from CNN about the training of the governor’s security team.

The arson comes after several attacks on elected officials in the past few years, including two attempted assassinations of President Donald Trump before his reelection, an alleged kidnapping plot against Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in 2020 and a 2022 break-in at the San Francisco home of Nancy Pelosi, then speaker of the House, by a man who attacked her husband with a hammer.

Evanoff noted the increased vitriol toward elected officials amid a “polarization of the political landscape right now” – which should encourage heightened security measures, he said.

Shapiro, 51, was one of several candidates considered for former Vice President Kamala Harris’ running mate during her 2024 presidential bid. He has been floated as a potential presidential candidate for 2028.

Speaking at a news conference shortly after the incident, Shapiro emphasized he was “emotional” but “not fearful.”

“This type of violence is not OK,” the governor said, his voice rising. “We have to be better than this.”

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CNN’s John Miller and Dakin Andone contributed to this report. Miller is CNN’s chief law enforcement and intelligence analyst.