HARRISBURG, Pa. (WHTM)– Police said Cody Balmer, the man charged after the Governor’s residence caught fire early Sunday morning, allegedly revealed his motive for the incident.


An alleged “arsonist,” identified by police as 38-year-old Cody Balmer of Penbrook, allegedly set fire to the Governor’s residence in Harrisburg while the family was asleep inside. Court paperwork is now revealing a possible motive in the case.


Court documents show that Pennsylvania State Police said surveillance cameras caught the attack. Police said Balmer was seen climbing over the perimeter fence and breaking an exterior window with a hammer.


Balmer then threw a Molotov cocktail into the residence, starting a fire, per police.


Police said Balmer moved to another window and entered the residence before throwing a second Molotov cocktail, then kicked the dining room door open and ran from the home.


During the investigation, State Police in Harrisburg said they were contacted by a woman claiming her ex-boyfriend, Balmer, was responsible for the incident. Balmer allegedly told her to call the police to turn him in.


Balmer turned himself in at State Police headquarters later, per police.


Police said Balmer admitted to officers that he harbored hatred toward Governor Shapiro and that he removed gasoline from his lawn mower and poured it into beer bottles at his home to create his Molotov cocktails.


The paperwork also says that Balmer told police that he knew there was a possibility that the governor and others were inside and that he would have beaten Shapiro with his hammer if he encountered him.


Balmer was taken to the Dauphin County prison for arraignment.


An outraged Governor Shapiro talked about the attack on his family on Sunday, saying, “This kind of violence is becoming far too common in our society. And I don’t give a damn if it’s coming from one particular side or the other directed at one particular party or another or one particular person or another. It is not okay and it has to stop. We have to be better than this and we have a responsibility to all be better.”


Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo said that the charges would include attempted murder, terrorism, aggravated assault, and aggravated arson.