Gov. Josh Shapiro Asked About Report Cody Balmer's Family Sought Help For The Alleged Arsonist

At a press briefing on Wednesday, Gov. Josh Shapiro (D-PA) was asked about a report that alleged arsonist Cody Balmer's family sought help for him.

Transcript

00:00Cody Balmer's family tried getting him help in the days leading up to the arson,

00:04and they said that they couldn't get help.

00:06Police also confirmed that he didn't meet the threshold.

00:08Do you think anything needs to change in how mental health calls are handled?

00:12I don't know about the specifics regarding him.

00:16I think that's more of a question for the prosecutors.

00:18Governor, however security might change, if it changes at all,

00:22my question to you is do you still want that governor's residence to be a place where public can visit,

00:28where events can be held?

00:29Some people are wondering if things are going to change to the point where people won't be there anymore.

00:34Tom, it is critically important to me that the residence be a place that is comfortable and safe for me and my family,

00:44for our staff, and for visitors all across Pennsylvania who come there.

00:50We're going to continue to have the house open to celebrate Halloween and Christmas and many other things.

00:57We're going to continue to have a lecture series quarterly as Laurie and I began a couple years ago.

01:03We're going to continue to welcome lawmakers and guests, and we're going to try and do that very, very quickly.

01:10One of the things I said to Secretary McNeil that next day was that it was important to not only get the place cleaned up and repaired quickly,

01:20it was important to me to get people back into the residence quickly, to get visitors to come back,

01:26and to make sure that the building continues to be a place where people from all different walks of life are comfortable gathering.

01:34I think Secretary McNeil is working very, very quickly, and he'll be happy to give you an update on that.

01:50Manuel can arrange for him to walk through with all of you the timeline for that, but it's moving quickly.

01:55And did you all lose any?