Toronto police officer killed during raid linked to consulate shooting
A 43-year-old Toronto police officer died after being shot in a gun-fire exchange at a high-rise building during a raid tied to a March shooting outside the U.S. consulate, while a 19-year-old suspect remains at large.
A Toronto police officer was fatally wounded during a pre-dawn raid on a high-rise building on Thursday, police said. The officer, identified as 43-year-old Marc Pinizzotto, had served 18 years with the force, including five on the Emergency Task Force, and was part of a team executing search warrants related to several shootings, including the March attack on the U.S. consulate.
Police reported an exchange of gunfire in which the officer was shot and later pronounced dead at a hospital. Another suspect involved in the exchange was injured and taken to hospital in critical condition; their identity has not been released.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demikw said a 19-year-old suspect, Zara Jabbi, who is believed to have participated in the consulate shooting, remains at large and is considered armed and dangerous. > "I would ask anyone that would see him to call 9-1-1 immediately," Demikw added.
The March incident, described by U.S. and Canadian officials as a national security incident, involved two male suspects firing from a vehicle at the consulate before fleeing. No one inside the consulate was harmed.
U.S. ambassador Pete Hoekstra referenced the officer’s death at a Canada-U.S. trade conference, expressing condolences for the family and noting the close law-enforcement cooperation between the two countries. Toronto Police Association president Clayton Campbell called Pinizzotto a valued member of the force, and Chief Demikw described the community’s sorrow over the loss.
