US city councilman set on fire in workplace attack
Authorities said the attack was rooted in a personal dispute, not politics.
Lee Vogler, 38, who has served on the Danville City Council for more than a decade, was taken by medical helicopter to a burn unit in North Carolina after the attack on Wednesday.
3:55 p.m. 7/30/25 UPDATE: The Danville Police Department has charged Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, with attempted first degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding following the attack by burning Wednesday, July 30, on Lee Vogler. (1/2) pic.twitter.com/g0N4rEMZLx
— Danville VA Police (@DanvilleVAPD) July 30, 2025
Police said the assailant, Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, forced his way into Vogler's office at Showcase Magazine, confronted him, then chased him outside and set him ablaze.
Hayes was arrested at the scene on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding.
Investigators stressed the motive appeared personal and unrelated to Vogler's work as a public official. Still, the assault added to growing unease over violence and harassment aimed at elected officials across the country, particularly as the boundaries blur between their public roles and private lives.
"There is no justification for lashing out," said Andrew Scott Brooks, publisher of the magazine.
"This type of act of senseless violence needs to stop."
Two employees were in the building when the attack occurred, Brooks said. According to police and witnesses, Vogler ran through the office yelling for help after being doused in petrol. A colleague called for help as Hayes chased Vogler outside and ignited the fire, the publisher said.
Hayes was being held without bond in the Danville City Jail, police said. A message left with a phone number listed for the suspect wasn't immediately returned. A message was left with the Danville Public Defender Office asking whether they will be representing the suspect.
"Our prayers go out to Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler who was violently attacked at his workplace earlier today," Republican Governor Glenn Youngkin said in a statement.
"We pray for a swift recovery for Lee and for peace to be on the entire Danville community."
Our prayers go out to Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler who was violently attacked at his workplace earlier today. We pray for a swift recovery for Lee and peace to be on the entire Danville community.
— Governor Glenn Youngkin (@GovernorVA) July 30, 2025
Brooks said he had no indication Vogler felt unsafe at work or elsewhere. Vogler is a salesperson at the magazine, though at the small-city media company, everyone does a bit a bit of everything.
"He makes sales, but he also writes stories about our community," Brooks said.
Brooks said that comes naturally to Vogler.
"His passion is being on the city council," Brooks said. "He loves when people call them with a concern that he can help them with, and he has been an asset to the community for much of his adult life. He was young when he got on city council, early 20s. He has made that his life."
Brooks said outside of work, Vogler is dedicated parent to his two children.
"He's the one who coaches their sports teams," Brooks said.
Danville is about 230km north of Charlotte, North Carolina.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former Stanford coach Troy Taylor files defamation suit against ESPN, reporter over story about his bullying allegations
Former Stanford football coach Troy Taylor isn't happy with the way he was portrayed in an ESPN article that may have ultimately led to his firing. Taylor reportedly filed a defamation lawsuit against ESPN and reporter Xuan Thai for making false statements intended to smear Taylor's reputation, according to a complaint obtained by The Athletic. Taylor took issue with an ESPN article written by Thai in March which accused Taylor of bullying and belittling female staffers. Shortly after that report emerged, Taylor was fired by team general manager Andrew Luck. In his statement, Luck cited "significant attention to Stanford investigations" as part of the reason for the firing. Thai's report alleged multiple instances in which Taylor was found to have bullied and belittled female staff members. At least two investigations were performed, both of which found evidence of "concerning behavior by Coach Taylor." In his lawsuit, Taylor reportedly cited a different ESPN article published in April, which he believed refuted the original report. The second article, published by Thai in April, noted "a single complainant" led to the initial investigation into Taylor's conduct and that an investigator found "insufficient evidence" regarding that complaint. Thai's April article did include those statements. But in between those quotes, Thai wrote the following: "The investigation ultimately included interviews with at least 20 Stanford athletic department staffers regarding four allegations against Taylor. Three of the allegations regarding belittling and inappropriate behavior toward multiple women were deemed to have merit." Earlier that day, Taylor released a statement claiming he was not fired for cause by Stanford. In that statement, Taylor claimed, "The media's portrayal of me is unfair, wrong and contrary to my professional track record and the person I am and have always been." Despite those claims, Taylor has not issued a lawsuit against Stanford. Both of Thai's articles remain available on ESPN's website. The network did not issue comment to The Athletic regarding Taylor's lawsuit. Prior to his firing, Taylor spent two seasons to Stanford. He went 3-9 in both 2023 and 2024. The team was set to bring him back for a third season in 2025 prior to his firing in March.
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Former Stanford coach Troy Taylor files defamation suit against ESPN, reporter over story about his firing
Former Stanford football coach Troy Taylor isn't happy with the way he was portrayed in an ESPN article that may have ultimately led to his firing. Taylor reportedly filed a defamation lawsuit against ESPN and reporter Xuan Thai for making false statements intended to smear Taylor's reputation, according to a complaint obtained by The Athletic. Taylor took issue with an ESPN article written by Thai in March which accused Taylor of bullying and belittling female staffers. Shortly after that report emerged, Taylor was fired by team general manager Andrew Luck. In his statement, Luck cited "significant attention to Stanford investigations" as part of the reason for the firing. Thai's report alleged multiple instances in which Taylor was found to have bullied and belittled female staff members. At least two investigations were performed, both of which found evidence of "concerning behavior by Coach Taylor." In his lawsuit, Taylor reportedly cited a different ESPN article published in April, which he believed refuted the original report. The second article, published by Thai in April, noted "a single complainant" led to the initial investigation into Taylor's conduct and that an investigator found "insufficient evidence" regarding that complaint. Thai's April article did include those statements. But in between those quotes, Thai wrote the following: "The investigation ultimately included interviews with at least 20 Stanford athletic department staffers regarding four allegations against Taylor. Three of the allegations regarding belittling and inappropriate behavior toward multiple women were deemed to have merit." Earlier that day, Taylor released a statement claiming he was not fired for cause by Stanford. In that statement, Taylor claimed, "The media's portrayal of me is unfair, wrong and contrary to my professional track record and the person I am and have always been." Despite those claims, Taylor has not issued a lawsuit against Stanford. Both of Thai's articles remain available on ESPN's website. The network did not issue comment to The Athletic regarding Taylor's lawsuit. Prior to his firing, Taylor spent two seasons to Stanford. He went 3-9 in both 2023 and 2024. The team was set to bring him back for a third season in 2025 prior to his firing in March.
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Uvalde schools adding AI gun detectors three years after Texas shooter killed 19 kids
The Uvalde, Texas, school district is installing an artificial intelligence-based gun detection system, as the area continues to grapple with the fallout of a 2022 school shooting that left 19 students and two teachers dead. A company called Omnialert plans to offer the district its technology, which automatically monitors security feeds for the presence of an individual with a gun, for free as part of a three-year grant program. 'We felt very strongly–particularly with the tragedy that occurred in Uvalde–that it made sense for us to create a grant program specifically for these types of school districts that have already been impacted by a tragedy,' Omnialert CEO Dave Fraser told KXAN. The executive added that the system, which flags a human to review possible alerts and then notifies first responders for confirmed matches, does not track biometric data. 'It's important that there's absolutely no form of biometrics or facial recognition, nothing that makes a human being, individually or personally, recognizable at all in our system,' he said. 'All it's doing is it's looking for the shape of a human being holding a brandished firearm.' The small-town Texas community continues to scrutinize the tragic shooting, one of the worst school massacres in U.S. history. This spring, the city of Uvalde settled with victims' families for $2 million. A group of Uvalde parents has also sued video game company Activision and Instagram parent company Meta, arguing they helped promote the firearm used in the shooting. Activision has pushed back and sought to dismiss the suit this month, arguing these claims violate the First Amendment and past precedent. Pete Arredondo, the former Uvalde schools police chief, is awaiting trial on charges of child abandonment and endangerment over the chaotic response to the shooting. He has pleaded not guilty. The school district and law enforcement response to the shooting at Robb Elementary, which involved hundreds of police officers and federal Border Patrol personnel, has been roundly criticized. The 18-year-old gunman was first able to enter the school through an unlocked back door. Police arrived on the scene of the school within three minutes of the first shots being fired, but officers ultimately waited over an hour until a heavily armed Border Patrol SWAT team arrived to confront and kill the teen gunman, as he barricaded himself inside a classroom with children and fired multiple shots. Arredondo, the then-chief, initially lacked a radio as the shooting unfolded, and officers reportedly never tried to open a door into the classroom where the gunman was hiding, believing it was locked and instead waited for a key. A 2023 Texas Tribune investigation captured officers just outside the classroom fretting about being shot if they confronted the gunman. 'What's the safest way to do this? I'm not trying to get clapped out,' one officer can be heard saying on radio communications obtained by the publication. 'Me neither,' another responds. Uvalde school police had conducted active shooter training just weeks before the massacre, and had invested heavily in security and training in previous years, but appeared unprepared for an active shooter situation. A 2024 Justice Department review said the response to the shooting showed 'cascading failures of leadership, decision-making, tactics, policy and training' at all levels, while a Homeland Security report that same year said law enforcement did not establish a clear line of command, 'leading to delays, inaction, and potentially further loss of life.' In the wake of the shooting, Texas lawmakers passed a bill this year to improve police training and school security infrastructure. In 2024, state officials announced the creation of a new $34 million behavioral health campus in the area to improve mental health treatment.
