Danville City Councilman J. Lee Vogler, 38, was at the Showcase Magazine HQ when Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, stormed in at around 11.30am, it is alleged.
Hayes dumped the contents of a 'five gallon container' on top of Vogler before setting him alight, according to the publication's owner Andrew Brooks.
He has now been charged with attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding. He is currently being held in Danville City Jail without bond.
Hayes and Vogler know each other and the attack stemmed from a 'personal matter', not from Vogler's role as a public official, police said.
Hayes’ wife, Mary Alice Buck-Hayes, filed for divorce just two weeks ago. The couple married in 2021, according to her Facebook page.
No details have been shared on the alleged 'personal' matter between Vogler and Hayes or how the two men know one another.
Investigators have yet to comment on any mental health issues that Hayes may have been suffering and whether the divorce may have caused him to spiral out of control.
Vogler is happily married to wife Blair Vogler, with whom he shares two young children.
Danville City Councilman J. Lee Vogler, 38, was airlifted to a regional burn center after being set on fire inside his office Wednesday morning.
Hayes' wife Mary Alice Buck-Hayes filed for divorce from him just two weeks ago. The couple only appeared to have married in 2023.
Police said Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes (right), 29, of Danville carried out the attack on Wednesday.
He recently shared a glowing 40th birthday tribute to her on Facebook, saying: 'The kids and I are so blessed to have you in our lives.'
Vogler attempted to flee but was chased to the front of the building, where the suspect ignited the liquid and set him ablaze, Brooks added.
The victim was airlifted to Central Lynchburg General Hospital and was described as 'awake and talking' by Brooks, although police did not provide details on the nature of his injuries.
The suspect fled the scene, but witnesses provided a description of both the man and his vehicle.
Officers stopped the suspect several blocks away and took him into custody without incident.
Police added that charges against Hayes are forthcoming but declined to release further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
The victim was airlifted to Central Lynchburg General Hospital and was described as 'awake and talking' by Brooks, although police did not provide details on the nature of his injuries.
The suspect fled the scene, but witnesses provided a description of both the man and his vehicle.
Officers stopped the suspect several blocks away and took him into custody without incident.
Police added that charges against Hayes are forthcoming but declined to release further details, citing the ongoing investigation.
A tearful Brooks shared a video online where he detailed the chilling attack.
'This type of senseless act of violence has to stop,' he said.
'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.'
Vogler, a Danville native, made history in May 2012 when he was elected to the City Council at just 24 years old and became the youngest person ever to hold the position.
He earned a Bachelor's degree in Political Science from Virginia Commonwealth University in 2010 and now serves as Managing Partner at Andrew Brooks Media Group which owns Showcase Magazine.
Vogler married his wife in 2011 and the couple share two children together.
J. Lee Vogler has a long, huge healing path ahead.
There is nothing worse than the pain of burns, and I don’t know what drove someone to dump not just one gallon of gas on him, but five gallons.
It sounds awfully ‘personal’ to me…like Vogler cheated with Hayes’ wife. And Hayes already lost his marriage, so he didn’t care about spending the rest of his life in prison… he wanted Vogler to be disfigured and/or die an extremely gruesome death.
Others have said the same thing, but for now it doesn’t matter because the big problem is recovering from those burns.
We don’t know how long Vogler was on fire, or whether he had someone help him immediately douse the flames.
But I pray that he gets the pain relief he needs, and that he might be able to fill the civil service position to which he was elected.
Let Us Pray
🙏
Holy Lord,
Help us walk Your straight and narrow path, and forgive us from all our sins.
We cherish what we have with You. We honor and adore You, Our One and Only Lord of All!
Bless this situation; help Mr. Vogler recover and fulfill Your Path. Relieve his pain and suffering, and protect him from infection.
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After almost 30 yrs of Civil intelligence Investigations I can say with authority, this is only the beginning. I attribute much of this activity to decades of Epstein type behavior that have gone uncorrected. A lot of evil stuff has gone on with little resistance by the American people and our government had completely failed to do their duty. In fact they spend more time trying to cover up the heinous crimes instead of destroying the works of evil.
Demonic activity is on the rise as darkness covers the land. Jesus said, “ light and darkness cannot occupy the same place.”
The only way this nation survives is when the people repent of their apathy towards evil and start putting an end to much of this evil.
Lord knows I tried, but I was left alone to face the trafficking LE and other criminals. That just won’t work folks. I took an oath in the USMC and repeated it when I was trained by a former Senator to search out the subversion and warn people. I did for almost 3 decades. We knew these times were coming. Violence will increase because of our lack of will to take charge of our communities.
May God have mercy on us and pray for the children.
After almost 30 yrs of Civil intelligence Investigations I can say with authority, this is only the beginning. I attribute much of this activity to decades of Epstein type behavior that have gone uncorrected. A lot of evil stuff has gone on with little resistance by the American people and our government had completely failed to do their duty. In fact they spend more time trying to cover up the heinous crimes instead of destroying the works of evil.
Demonic activity is on the rise as darkness covers the land. Jesus said, “ light and darkness cannot occupy the same place.”
The only way this nation survives is when the people repent of their apathy towards evil and start putting an end to much of this evil.
Lord knows I tried, but I was left alone to face the trafficking LE and other criminals. That just won’t work folks. I took an oath in the USMC and repeated it when I was trained by a former Senator to search out the subversion and warn people. I did for almost 3 decades. We knew these times were coming. Violence will increase because of our lack of will to take charge of our communities.
May God have mercy on us and pray for the children.
I pray for Jesus and Mary to cover him with a mantle of healing for his wounds. 🙏