Virginia city councilman set on fire in workplace attack; suspect charged with attempted murder

DANVILLE, Va. (AP) — A city councilmember in Virginia ran through his office covered in gasoline and then was set on fire by a man who chased him outside, authorities said Wednesday.

Lee Vogler, 38, was flown to a North Carolina hospital after the attack investigators say stemmed from a “personal matter” that was unrelated to his politics or work as councilman, authorities said.

The suspect, Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes of Danville, was charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding.

Police say the suspect entered Vogler’s office, where he works at a local magazine, confronted him and doused him in flammable liquid. Both men then left the building and the 29-year-old suspect set Vogler on fire, police said.

Vogler was taken to a burn unit at a hospital in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, and his condition wasn’t immediately known, Vogler’s father, Jack Vogler Sr., told The Associated Press. UNC Health declined to comment on Vogler’s condition Wednesday afternoon.

Hayes was being held without bond in the Danville City Jail, police said.

A message left with a phone number listed for the suspect wasn’t immediately returned. A message was left with the Danville Public Defender Office asking whether they will be representing the suspect.

The attack occurred at the office of Showcase Magazine, a monthly publication on southwest Virginia and North Carolina, magazine owner and publisher Andrew Scott Brooks said. The magazine shares a small two-story building with several other businesses in Danville.

Brooks said there were two employees at the magazine’s office at the time. The other employee called Brooks and told him what happened.

“Our door is locked,” Brooks told The Associated Press. “They forced their way into the office, and went to Lee. The next thing, Lee is running through the office covered in gasoline, yelling for our officemate to call 911. The guy chased him outside and set him on fire.

“There is no justification for lashing out,” he said. “There is no amount of pain you can be under that can justify you inflicting violence on others.”

It wasn’t immediately known how the suspect got through the locked door. A telephone message left with Danville police wasn’t immediately returned Wednesday afternoon.

Elected officials and politicians throughout Virginia quickly condemned the attack.

“Our prayers go out to Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler who was violently attacked at his workplace earlier today,” Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. “We pray for a swift recovery for Lee and for peace to be on the entire Danville community.”

Brooks said he had no indication that Vogler felt unsafe at work or elsewhere. Vogler is a salesperson at the magazine, though at the small-city media company, everyone does a bit a bit of everything.

“He makes sales, but he also writes stories about our community,” Brooks said.

Brooks said that comes naturally to Vogler.

“His passion is being on the city council,” Brooks said. “He loves when people call them with a concern that he can help them with, and he has been an asset to the community for much of his adult life. He was young when he got on city council, early 20s. He has made that his life.”

Brooks said outside of work, Vogler is dedicated parent to his two kids.

“He’s the one who coaches their sports teams,” Brooks said.

Vogler has served on the Danville City council for more than 12 years and is currently serving his 4th term. He’s married with two children. Vogler is a managing partner at the Andrew Brooks Media Group, a marketing firm that publishes several regional magazines and operates a branded merchandise website and a music publishing company, according to its website.

He graduated from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2010 and returned to his hometown to run for office. He formed a group in 2010 called Moving Danville Forward, to come up with ideas to revitalize the city.

Danville is about 140 miles (227 kilometers) north of Charlotte, North Carolina.

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Diaz reported from Richmond, Virginia. Associated Press writers Safiyah Riddle in Montgomery, Alabama, Claudia Lauer in Philadelphia, Makiya Seminera in Raleigh, North Carolina, and John Raby in Charleston, West Virginia, contributed to this report.

Olivia Diaz And Allen G. Breed, The Associated Press