Man in custody after a Virginia council member was set on fire over ‘a personal matter,’ police say

CNN A suspect is in custody after a Danville Virginia city council member was set on fire Wednesday morning by a man police say he knows The attack on council member Lee Vogler stems from a personal matter not related to the victim s position on the Danville City Council or any other political affiliation police commented in the comment The suspect who police identified as -year-old Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes entered Vogler s place of employment confronted him and doused him with an unknown flammable liquid Danville police reported in a news release Andrew Brooks the publisher and owner of Showcase Magazine reported Vogler was attacked at the magazine s office The man forced his way into our office carrying a five-gallon bucket of gasoline and poured the gasoline on Lee Brooks announced in a social media video Vogler attempted to flee and the suspect followed him according to Brooks The victim and suspect exited the building where the suspect then set the victim on fire police explained in the announcement Buck Hayes fled the area but bystanders provided a description of him and his bicycle Brooks noted Vogler was able to identify his alleged attacker He was airlifted for clinical healing The extent of Vogler s injuries is not clear at this time police mentioned Vogler was taken to a burn unit at a hospital in Chapel Hill North Carolina Vogler s father Jack Vogler Sr advised The Associated Press UNC Wellbeing declined to comment on the victim s condition the AP communicated Buck Hayes is facing attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding charges according to police He is being held in Danville City Jail without bond police commented in an update CNN is working to determine whether Buck Hayes has an attorney Danville Society Defender Joseph Schenk noted Wednesday it would not be appropriate for his office to represent Buck Hayes because he is friends with Vogler and has known him personally and professionally for over a decade Vogler a Danville native was the youngest person ever elected to the city council in May according to his biography on the city council s website He works as the managing partner for Andrew Brooks Media Group a multimedia company that publishes regional magazines such as Showcase Magazine the biography explained He is also the director of sales at Showcase Magazine the publication stated in a record on its site Prayers for Vogler Bureaucrats including Virginia Gov Glenn Youngkin reported Vogler was in their prayers and required others to pray for him We pray for a swift recovery for Lee and peace to be on the entire Danville public Youngkin declared in a social media post In a declaration Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones called the attack an unthinkable act of violence Lee is a member of our City Council family And nowadays that family is hurting Jones added Our Council is close We ve worked through challenges together and now we face this heartbreak together This type of senseless violence has to stop Brooks commented in the social media video You do not have the right as a human being to get upset with someone enough to lash out and attempt to harm them in any way much less this way The magazine also offered prayers to Vogler and his family We are deeply shocked and saddened by this act of violence the magazine disclosed The Showcase Magazine unit is fully cooperating with law enforcement as they continue their research Virginia state Sen Tammy Brankley Mulchi condemned the deeply troubling attack and stated she supports efforts to bring the suspect to justice I have had the pleasure of getting to know Lee over the last couple of years and the one thing I know that he loves more than representing the people of Danville is the love of his family the senator revealed in a social media post I pray during this challenging time for his swift and complete recovery Danville is in southern Virginia on the territory line of North Carolina It is about one hour south of Lynchburg and approximately one hour north of Durham North Carolina This story has been updated with additional information The-CNN-Wire Cable News Architecture Inc a Warner Bros Discovery Company All rights reserved Source