A metropolis councilman in Virginia was set on fire in what witnesses described as a vicious attack Wednesday morning.
Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler was airlifted to a native hospital following the attack, the Danville Police Department said, noting that the “full extent of his injuries” is not yet recognized.
Vogler, 38, was in the workplaces of Showcase Magazine when an attacker stormed in with a five-gallon container of flammable liquid, poured it over the councilman, chased him through the building, then set him on fire, writer Andrew Brooks said in a video posted to social media, including that Vogler recognized the attacker by identify when he saw him.
Danville City Councilmember Lee Vogler was set on fire Wednesday morning in what witnesses described as a vicious attack. https://www.danville-va.gov/
The councilman was “awake and talking” last he saw him, he continued.
Police recognized Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, 29, as the suspect in the attack. He is at present in police custody. The incident seems to be tied to a personal matter between the two males, police added.
“Based on the investigation at the time of this release, the victim and the suspect are known to each other and the attack stems from a personal matter not related to the victim’s position on Danville City Council or any other political affiliation,” the division said in a assertion.
Danville Mayor Alonzo Jones described the occasion as an “unthinkable act of violence.”
“Our Council is close,” his assertion continued. “We’ve worked through challenges together — and now, we face this heartbreak together. Please continue to pray for Lee and his family. We’re standing with him — and with each other.”
Brooks, the witness to the attack, condemned what occurred in an emotional plea to those watching.
“This type of senseless act of violence has to stop,” Brooks said in the video. “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Vogler was first elected to the Danville City Council in 2012 when he was 24 years outdated, making him the youngest individual ever elected to that place, according to the metropolis’s web site.
Danville, a metropolis along the border of Virginia and North Carolina, has a population of around 42,000 people.
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