Security ramped up for annual Rockefeller Christmas tree lighting after gunman killed UnitedHealthcare CEO | 5 Dec 2024 | Security was ramped up for the annual lighting of the Rockefeller Center's iconic Christmas tree Wednesday evening, hours after a masked gunman shot and killed UnitedHealthcare's CEO outside a midtown Manhattan hotel just a few blocks away. Chief of Department Jeffrey B. Maddrey said there would be a "massive presence" of police, including additional officers in the subway. UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson was shot and killed at close range outside the Hilton Hotel Wednesday morning. The suspect was still at large as of Thursday afternoon.