Virginia city council member set on fire in workplace attack

Police in Danville, Va., said Wednesday that they were “investigating” after a City Council member was “set on fire.”

According to the release, officers went late in the morning “to the 700 block of Main Street for a report of a male being set on fire.” They found that the man set on fire was Danville City Council member Lee Vogler, police said later in the release.

“The Danville Fire Department and the Danville Life Saving Crew also responded to the scene to render aid. The male victim was airlifted to a regional medical facility for treatment,” the police said.

Vogler was confronted at his workplace and had a flammable liquid poured onto him by the suspect, 29-year-old Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, according to “witness information,” Danville police said. 

“The victim and suspect exited the building, where the suspect then set the victim on fire,” Danville police said.

Hayes faces charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding, the police said in a later update, and “is being held in the Danville City Jail under no bond.”