A city councilman in Virginia was seriously injured Wednesday when a man stormed into his office at a local magazine, doused him in gasoline and set him on fire — an attack that authorities say 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.

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.

Hayes was arrested at the scene on charges of attempted first-degree murder and aggravated malicious wounding.

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.

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.

Danville is about 140 miles (227 kilometers) north of Charlotte, North Carolina.

AP Video shot by Allen G. Breed