(WBRE/WYOU) — Questions remain regarding how 38-year-old Cody Balmer was allegedly able to break into the Governor's Mansion, set a fire, and get away without being detected or picked up by security.
Governor Shapiro and his family were asleep inside the mansion at the time the fire was started.
The State Police say a third-party expert will conduct an independent security review of the Governor's Mansion and property.
Many questions about the break-in and arson attack at the Governor's Mansion last weekend.
38-year-old Cody Balmer faces a slew of charges in the attack.
The big question: how was he able to pull it off and then get away without being detected by security.
State police announced more about the consulting firm that will conduct a security review of the Governor's Mansion.
The state police retained the Jeffrey Miller Security Consulting Firm to review the security at the Governor's Mansion.
Miller served as state police commissioner in the early 2000's and has an extensive security background, including helping guide security for the NFL the question many people are asking: what caused this security breach?
State police say that early Sunday morning, 38-year-old Cody Balmer scaled a nearly seven foot fence, smashed two windows, entered the Governor's Mansion, and threw several Molotov cocktails setting the mansion on fire.
All of this as Governor Josh Shapiro and his family were asleep. Shapiro and his family escaped the flames.
Balmer was also carrying a hammer and according to court documents, stated that he would have attacked Shapiro had he encountered him inside the mansion. Balmer got away, but later turned himself in to police.
Doug Fawbush is Director of Public Safety and Security at Luzerne County Community College. He has more than 25 years of security experience. He thinks an independent security review could provide answers as to what led to this security breach.
"I think that potentially is a good thing because it's a different set of eyes that something you might not have caught something, somebody else would come and say what about this that you might not have noticed. So any additional help or advice that they can give I think would be beneficial to the investigation," explained Fawbush.
Fawbush says the review will likely look at specific aspects of security at the mansion.
"Looking at how this individual entered the premises, how he gained access to the home, reviewing security footage, looking at gaps in security that they may find," said Fawbush.
Micheal Krzywicki is Chief of Police and Director of Public Safety at Wilkes University. He says security is always a work in progress and that such reviews are done on a regular basis at the university.
"Just recently last year we had a security assessment done by the state police so they came to our campus, they went through the entire place and they told us where we need to improve and where we're doing good. We tried to improve that," commented Chief Krzywicki.
The state police say the Jeffrey Miller team will be in Harrisburg next week and take a look at the residence and grounds, monitoring systems, and personnel, namely the security detail.
