The Toronto Police Service stated that their officer, Marc Pinizzotto, was shot during an exchange of fire in a multi-story building early Thursday morning. He was rushed to the hospital, where doctors pronounced him dead.
Toronto police were investigating suspects who had fired shots at the US Consulate building in Toronto earlier this year. At the time, US and Canadian officials had described the incident as a matter concerning national security.
Toronto Police Chief Mayron Demkiw stated that one of the suspects, 19-year-old Zara Jabbie, remains at large. He is considered “armed and dangerous.” Demkiw said, “I would urge anyone who sees him to call 911 immediately.”
Myron Demkiw identified the slain officer as 43-year-old Marc Pinizzotto, who had served as an officer for 18 years. He had also spent five years with the Toronto Police Emergency Task Force.
Police reported that Pinizzotto was executing search warrants related to a series of shooting incidents, including the one at the U.S. Consulate. Police described the operation as highly risky and dangerous. They did not disclose which other shooting incidents were being investigated through the search warrants executed across the city on Thursday.
At the time of the attack on the U.S. Consulate, police had reported that two male suspects exited a vehicle, fired shots at the building using what appeared to be a handgun, and then returned to the vehicle and fled. Police stated that no one inside the building was harmed, as the consulate is a “highly secure” facility.
U.S. officials have linked the March shooting to a national of both Iran and Iraq, who is accused of running a terrorist network responsible for multiple attacks across Europe, the United States, and Canada. U.S. investigators allege that Mohammed Baqir Saad Daoud Al-Saadi discussed the consulate shooting during a phone call in March.
