Virginia city councillor doused with gasoline, set on fire in workplace attack
Article content
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. Police said the assailant, 29-year-old Shotsie Michael Buck Hayes, forced his way into Vogler's office at Showcase Magazine, confronted him, then chased him outside and set him ablaze.
Article content
Article content
Hayes was arrested at the scene on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding.
Article content
Article content
Investigators stressed that 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.
Article content
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 gasoline. A colleague called for help as Hayes chased Vogler outside and ignited the fire, the publisher said.
Article content
'Our door is locked,' Brooks said. 'They forced their way into the office, and went to Lee. The next thing, Lee is running through the office covered in gasoline, yelling for our officemate to call 911.'
Article content
Article content
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.
Article content
Showcase Magazine is a monthly publication about southwest Virginia and North Carolina. The magazine shares a small two-story building with several other businesses in Danville.
Article content
Article content
A woman who answered the door at the Vogler residence and identified herself as the sister of Vogler's wife declined to comment. A man at an address listed for Hayes also declined comment.
Article content
Elected officials and politicians throughout Virginia quickly condemned the attack.
Article content
'Our prayers go out to Danville City Councilman Lee Vogler who was violently attacked at his workplace earlier today,' Republican Gov. Glenn Youngkin said in a statement. 'We pray for a swift recovery for Lee and for peace to be on the entire Danville community.'
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
Woman shares scary Uber experience
A woman who says an Uber driver made several sexual advances and at one point deviated from her route home is warning others to be vigilant.
CTV News
6 hours ago
- CTV News
Former U.S. soldier is suspected in Montana bar shooting that killed 4, prompting manhunt
ANACONDA, Mont. — A shooting at a Montana bar left four people dead Friday, prompting a lockdown in a neighborhood several miles away as authorities searched for the suspect in a wooded, mountainous area. The shooting happened around 10:30 a.m. at The Owl Bar in Anaconda, according to the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, which is leading the investigation. The agency confirmed four people were pronounced dead at the scene. The suspect, identified as 45-year-old military veteran Michael Paul Brown, lived next door, according to public records and bar owner David Gwerder. The bartender and three patrons were killed, said Gwerder, who was not there at the time. He believed the four victims were the only ones present during the shooting, and was not aware of any prior conflicts between them and Brown. 'He knew everybody that was in that bar. I guarantee you that,' Gwerder said. 'He didn't have any running dispute with any of them. I just think he snapped.' Brown's home was cleared by a SWAT team and he was last seen in the Stump Town area, just west of Anaconda, authorities said. More than a dozen officers from local and state police converged on that area, locking it down so no one was allowed in or out. A helicopter also hovered over a nearby mountainside as officers moved among the trees, said Randy Clark, a retired police officer who lives there. Brown was believed to be armed, the Montana Highway Patrol said in a statement. Brown served in the U.S. Army as an armor crewman from 2001 to 2005 and deployed to Iraq from early 2004 until March 2005, according to Lt. Col. Ruth Castro, an Army spokesperson. Brown was in the Montana National Guard from 2006 to March 2009, Castro said. He left military service in the rank of sergeant. As reports of the shooting spread through town, business owners locked their doors and sheltered inside with customers. At Caterpillars to Butterflies Childcare, a nursery a few blocks from the shooting scene, owner Sage Huot said she'd kept the children inside all day after someone called to let her know about the violence. 'We're constantly doing practice drills, fire drills and active shooter drills, so we locked down the facility, locked the doors, and we have a quiet spot where we play activities away from all of our windows and doors,' Huot said. Anaconda is about 75 miles (120 kilometres) southeast of Missoula in a valley hemmed in by mountains. A town of about 9,000 people, it was founded by copper barons who profited off nearby mines in the late 1800s. A smelter stack that's no longer operational looms over the valley. The owner of the Firefly Cafe in Anaconda said she locked up her business at about 11 a.m. Friday after getting alerted to the shooting by a friend. 'We are Montana, so guns are not new to us,' cafe owner Barbie Nelson said. 'For our town to be locked down, everybody's pretty rattled.' By Matthew Brown And Colleen Slevin. Brown reported from Billings, Montana, and Slevin from Denver. AP writer Lisa Baumann in Bellingham, Washington, contributed to this report.
National Post
7 hours ago
- National Post
Ghislaine Maxwell, ex-girlfriend of Jeffrey Epstein, transferred to minimum-security prison camp
This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by Epstein. The reason for her prison transfer has not been disclosed An undated photo of Ghislaine Maxwell. Photo by U.S. Attorney's Office/Handout/File WASHINGTON — Jeffrey Epstein's former girlfriend, Ghislaine Maxwell, has been moved from a federal prison in Florida to a prison camp in Texas as her criminal case generates renewed public attention. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Unlimited online access to National Post. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. SUBSCRIBE FOR MORE ARTICLES Enjoy the latest local, national and international news. Exclusive articles by Conrad Black, Barbara Kay and others. Plus, special edition NP Platformed and First Reading newsletters and virtual events. Unlimited online access to National Post. National Post ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition to view on any device, share and comment on. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. Support local journalism. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors The federal Bureau of Prisons said Friday that Maxwell had been transferred to Bryan, Texas, but did not explain the circumstances. Her attorney, David Oscar Markus, also confirmed the move but declined to discuss the reasons for it. Maxwell was convicted in 2021 of luring teenage girls to be sexually abused by the disgraced financier, and was sentenced to 20 years in prison. She had been held at a low-security prison in Tallahassee, Florida, until her transfer to the prison camp in Texas, where other inmates include Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes and Jen Shah of 'The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.' Get a dash of perspective along with the trending news of the day in a very readable format. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again Maxwell was interviewed at a Florida courthouse over two days last week by Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche and the House Oversight Committee had also said that it wanted to speak with Maxwell. Her lawyers said this week that they would be open to an interview but only if the panel were to ensure immunity from prosecution. President Donald Trump and Attorney General Pam Bondi have faced public pressure to release all files in the case of Epstein, who died by suicide while in jail in 2019 awaiting trial on sex-trafficking charges. Trump has acknowledged a friendship with Epstein, but says it ended years before Epstein's death. Minimum-security federal prison camps house inmates the Bureau of Prisons considers to be the lowest security risk. Some don't even have fences. The prison camps were originally designed with low security to make operations easier and to allow inmates tasked with performing work at the prison, like landscaping and maintenance, to avoid repeatedly checking in and out of a main prison facility. Prosecutors have said Epstein's sex crimes could not have been done without Maxwell, but her lawyers have maintained that she was wrongly prosecuted and denied a fair trial, and have floated the idea of a pardon from President Donald Trump. They have also asked the U.S. Supreme Court to take up her case. Maxwell's case has been the subject of heightened public focus since an outcry over the Justice Department's statement last month saying that it would not be releasing any additional documents from the Epstein sex trafficking investigation. The decision infuriated online sleuths, conspiracy theorists and elements of Trump's base who had hoped to see proof of a government cover-up. This advertisement has not loaded yet. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Since then, administration officials have tried to cast themselves as promoting transparency in the case, including by requesting from courts the unsealing of grand jury transcripts. In a letter Friday to Maxwell's lawyers, Rep. James Comer, the committee chair, wrote that the committee was willing to delay the deposition until after the resolution of Maxwell's appeal to the Supreme Court. That appeal is expected to be resolved in late September. Comer wrote that while Maxwell's testimony was 'vital' to the Republican-led investigation into Epstein, the committee would not provide immunity or any questions in advance of her testimony, as was requested by her team. Associated Press Writers Michael Balsamo and Matt Brown contributed to this report. With files from Bloomberg Our website is the place for the latest breaking news, exclusive scoops, longreads and provocative commentary. Please bookmark and sign up for our daily newsletter, Posted, here.
