A lawmaker from a Virginia city was hospitalized after being doused in gasoline and set on fire while at work on Wednesday, according to the Danville Police Department (DPD).
In a post on Facebook, the DPD revealed that the suspect, who was identified as Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, had been charged with “attempted first degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding” after he allegedly doused Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler “with a flammable liquid” and then set him on fire.
The suspect is “being held in the Danville City Jail under no bond,” the police department said in the Facebook post.
Officers from the DPD were dispatched around 11:30 a.m. after receiving reports of a male victim “being set on fire.” Vogler was airlifted to a “regional medical facility for treatment.”
“Based on witness information provided to officers at the scene, the suspect entered into the victim’s place of employment, confronted him and doused him with a flammable liquid,” the police department revealed. “The victim and suspect exited the building, where the suspect then set the victim on fire.”
After setting Vogler on fire, the “suspect fled the scene,” the post from the police department said, adding that a witness had provided information describing the “suspect and his vehicle.”
“Officers located and stopped the vehicle several blocks from the incident and the driver was taken into custody without incident,” the police department added.
3:55 p.m. 7/30/25 UPDATE: The Danville Police Department has charged Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, with attempted…
Posted by Danville VA Police Department on Wednesday, July 30, 2025
In a video on Facebook, Andrew Brooks, the publisher and owner of Showcase Magazine, revealed that an individual “forced his way” into the office of the magazine, “carrying a five-gallon bucket of gasoline,” and had reportedly poured the gasoline on Vogler.
“Today, our co-worker Lee Vogler was attacked in our office,” Brooks said. “An individual forced his way into our office, carrying a five-gallon bucket of gasoline, and poured the gasoline on Lee. Lee attempted to flee, ran to the front of the building, the individual followed him and set him on fire.”
Brooks added that Vogler “identified his attacker,” and added that Vogler was reportedly “awake and talking and in route to the burn center in Lynchburg.”
“This type of senseless act of violence has to stop,” Brooks added. “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.”
In response to the incident, Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin (R) and Lt. Gov. Winsome Earle-Sears (R) expressed that they are praying for Vogler.
“Our prayers go out to Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler who was violently attacked at his workplace earlier today,” Youngkin wrote in a post on X. “We pray for a swift recovery for Lee and peace to be on the entire Danville community.”
“Please join me in praying for Councilman Lee Vogler and for his family,” Earle-Sears wrote in a post on X. “We stand with Danville and support a full investigation into this attack. Violence is never the answer and must be condemned.”
“I know Lee Vogler,” Virginia Attorney General Jason Miyares wrote in a post on X. “He is a good friend and an even greater city councilman for Danville. Violence in the pursuit of the political is the definition of domestic terrorism. Even the mere threat of violence is terrorism — and we should all condemn it together.”
