NYPD Beefs Up Presence For Tonight’s Rockefeller Christmas Tree Lighting In Wake Of Healthcare Exec’s Midtown Shooting Death
The NYPD says it will has a “massive police presence” in the area around Manhattan’s Rockefeller Center tonight where the annual NBC televised Christmas Tree Lighting activities kick off at 7 p.m. ET.
The police statement about the holiday event came during an NYPD press conference this afternoon about this morning’s brazen shooting death of United Healthcare CEO Brian Thompson. The shooting, which police believe was targeted, occurred around 6:45 a.m. ET on the sidewalk in front of the Midtown Hilton Hotel, just about five blocks from Rockefeller Center.
The shooting, said NYPD police chief Jeffrey Maddrey, “will not affect the tree lighting.” The televised outdoor entertainment from Rockefeller Center kicks off at 7 p.m., with the tree-lighting itself scheduled for 9:55 p.m.
“We will have a massive police presence out there around Rockefeller Center from 52nd Street all the way down to 47th Street,” Maddrey said, adding that the presence will include plainclothes officers, strategical response units and intelligence assets.
The chief said additional officers will be stationed in nearby subways to safeguard the influx of users heading to and from the tree lighting.
Thompson died of his injuries at Mount Sinai West Hospital a half-hour after the shooting. The shooter reportedly escaped on foot before getting on an e-bike and entering Central Park. The shooter had not been apprehended by mid-afternoon.
