A 38-year-old Virginia city councilman, J. Lee Vogler 38, was doused with five gallons of gasoline and set on fire, resulting in his hospitalization.
According to police, his assailant, Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, stormed into the Showcase Magazine building in Danville, where Volger is a managing partner, and attacked him over a “personal matter.”
Highlights
- Vogler was doused in gasoline inside his office before fleeing outside where he was set on fire.
- Police arrested the suspect, Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, just blocks from the scene.
- Authorities confirm the attack was personal and not related to Vogler’s political role.
Volger, said to have been conscious and speaking when emergency services whisked him away, was subsequently airlifted to Central Lynchburg General Hospital.
While police will not divulge the extent of Councilman J. Lee Vogler’s injuries, they were serious enough to have him airlifted to hospital
Image credits: leevogler.com
The Danville Police released a statement on the incident saying that it had occurred on Wednesday morning (July 30) around 11:30.
It noted that the local Fire Department and Danville Life Saving Crew also responded to the scene and a “male victim was airlifted to a regional medical facility for treatment.”
“The full extent of his injuries are not known at the time of this release,” the statement continued.
Witnesses say that the stench of gasoline still lingers in the area where the attack took place
Image credits: Lee Vogler/Facebook
Image credits: leevogler
According to witnesses, Hayes had doused Volger inside the building, who then ran outside, where his attacker caught up to him and set him on fire.
Hayes then fled in his car but was pulled over by police a few blocks away and arrested “without incident.”
The Danville PD further explained that they have thus far established that Volger and Hayes know each other, and that the “attack stems from a personal matter not related to the victim’s position on Danville City Council or any other political affiliation.”
An update that followed indicated that Hayes had been charged for executing a planned attack on the councilman in an attempt to end his life and in the process inflict “aggravated [and] malicious wounding.”
Image credits: Danville VA Police Department
Image credits: Mary Alice Buck-Hayes/Facebook
Image credits: Zola
Speaking to witnesses, WFMY News 2 heard that “the smell of gasoline still lingers inside” the building and that the carpet needed to be replaced.
Popular opinion suggests that the councilman was well loved
The Danville Police Department's Facebook update noted that Hayes was being held without bail but did not provide additional details.
Volgers’ business partner and co-owner of the Showcase Magazine, Andrew Brooks, took to Facebook to decry the attack.
Image credits: Lee Vogler/Facebook
Image credits: leevogler.com
“This type of senseless act of violence has to stop,” he said in the video after giving his version of events. “Lee is a brother to me. He is one of the kindest, most genuine people I know.”
“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.”
Mirroring Brook’s opinion of his business partner, WFMY News 2 reported that Volger “cares about the city.”
The attacker’s wife filed for divorce a fortnight prior
In a bid to understand Hayes’ motivations, outlets have since combed through his background.
Image credits: Mary Alice Buck-Hayes/Facebook
It has since been found that the 29-year-old’s wife, Mary Alice Buck-Hayes, had filed for a divorce from him two weeks before, triggering speculation about the condemned relationship’s effect on his mental health and by extension, its bearing on the attack.
Volger’s family life has since also come under the spotlight. According to the Daily Mail, he has been married to Blair since 2011 and has two children with her.
The last significant public reference he made to her was on her 40th birthday in a warm tribute that said: “The kids and I are so blessed to have you in our lives.”
Councilman Volger made headlines and history when he became the youngest person ever to fill his role
Image credits: Blair Vogler/Facebook
Volger made headlines and history when, at the age of 24, he became the youngest person to be elected to the City Council. The nomination came two years after he earned his Bachelor's in Political Science at Virginia Commonwealth University.
His performance in office, if a report by the local Cardinal News is anything to go by, has postured him as “one of the most consistent champions of Danville’s economic resurgence.”
The public is sure there is more to it than meets the eye
