State Accident Insurance Fund CEO Chip Terhune who shot at by a hooded gunman who opened fire on him near his Lake Oswego, Ore. home. The suspect wore “all dark clothes with a possible hoodie or ski mask,” while carrying a “light-colored object,” Lake Oswego Police said.
The suspect left the scene on foot, police believe, and has not yet been apprehended. Windows and doors of Terhune’s home were shattered in the gunfire. The shooting took place at about 4 am on the morning of February 21. Terhune said that he believed at first that someone had been throwing rocks at his home.
He also sent an email to staff, The Daily Mail reports, letting them know that the company “received an email threat purporting to be from the person(s) responsible.”
“At around 4 a.m., I heard what I thought were rocks thrown at my house, but discovered they were gunshots,” Terhune said in the email, per OregonLive. “An investigation is underway, and we don’t know if this was specifically targeted to me.” Local outlet KPTV said that Terhune elaborated and said that “although it does not target any specific employee, the email references knowledge of employee and relatives’ names and addresses.”
The sender, Terhune said, also included “a list containing some of this information sourced from internet searches, including many inaccuracies.” The list that came with the threatening email was sent on to employees as well. Terhune advised staff to keep their wits about them.
It was on December 4 that UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thomson was gunned down in cold blood on a Manhattan street. The suspect in that killing, Luigi Mangione, was arrested days later in Pennsylvania and is in prison awaiting trial.
Since his arrest, he has become something of a folk hero to those who have problems with health insurance companies and believe in vigilante justice. He launched a fundraiser to help pay his legal expenses and the amount donated has already well surpassed half a million dollars. He may face the death penalty.
The State Accident Insurance Fund has been in business in the state of Oregon since 1914. They are “Oregon’s not-for-profit workers’ comp insurance company and say they “protect Oregon employers and workers with exceptional, affordable coverage.”