A Virginia city councillor has been airlifted to hospital after being set on fire at his office in what police describe as a 'personal matter'. Danville City Councillor Lee Vogler, 38, was attacked on Wednesday morning at the office of Showcase Magazine, where he works.
Witnesses reported that a man carrying a five-gallon bucket of flammable liquid entered the building, confronted Vogler and poured the liquid over him. Both men then left the building, where the suspect is alleged to have set Vogler alight before fleeing in a car. The vehicle was later found several blocks away, and police arrested 29-year-old Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes in connection with the attack.
Police confirmed that Vogler and Hayes knew each other, and that the assault stemmed from a personal dispute unrelated to Vogler's role on the city council or his political affiliation. The extent of Vogler's injuries is not yet known, but he was reportedly awake and talking as he was taken to a burn centre in Lynchburg.
Showcase Magazine publisher Andrew Brooks, who witnessed the aftermath, described the attack as a 'senseless act of violence'. Vogler, a Republican, is the youngest person ever elected to Danville City Council, having first won office in 2012 at age 24. He is married with two children.
