A member of the city council in Virginia was urgently taken to a burn center following an incident where a man doused him with gasoline and ignited it while he was at his job on Wednesday.
Lee Vogler, aged 39 and a member of the Danville City Council, was at his workplace in the Showcase Magazine office around 11 a.m. local time when a man named Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, from Danville, allegedly barged in with a five-gallon container of gasoline, according to both the Danville Police Department and Showcase Magazine owner Andrew Brooks.
Police said Hayes poured the gasoline on Vogler as he tried to run to the front of the building and then lit him on fire.
Hayes faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding. He remains in custody at the Danville City Jail without the option of bail.
Danville, Va., City Council member Lee Vogler was airlifted to the hospital after the attack. (@leevogler via Instagram)
John Reid, who is running for lieutenant governor, added the incident was an issue of “humanity.”
“The events in Danville are deeply disturbing,” Reid expressed in a statement on X. “A disturbed individual invaded the offices of Showcase Magazine and set fire to City Councilman J. Lee Vogler. Let me make this absolutely clear: Violence holds no place in our Commonwealth. No disagreement can ever justify hatred, threats, or acts of violence. Today, we stand united with J. Lee Vogler.”
Showcase Magazine, Danville City Council and Vogler’s office did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s requests for comment.
