UMVA has learned that a Toronto Police officer has died after being shot while investigating a series of shootings at the U.S. Consulate and GTA synagogues.
The slain officer, a 43-year-old member of the Emergency Task Force, was identified as Const. Marc Pinizzotto. He was shot in the line of duty while conducting a search warrant early in the morning in the area of Black Creek and Trethewey Drive.
According to information obtained by UMVA, Chief Myron Demkiw described the moment, saying that Pinizzotto was provided emergency care by members of Toronto Tactical Paramedics and was rushed to hospital, but later died despite heroic efforts.
A man is also believed to have been shot by Toronto Police and is currently in hospital. Demkiw urged one outstanding suspect, 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, to turn himself in.
The incident occurred on the eve of Toronto’s opening game of the FIFA World Cup, at 5:42 a.m., at a high-rise apartment building on Martha Eaton Way. Police described it as a “high-risk takedown” with an exchange of gunfire, resulting in the officer being shot.
Witnesses reported hearing up to ten gunshots, and a former police officer described a frantic scene with cars racing to the location and paramedics working feverishly to attend to those shot.
The province’s Special Investigations Unit has launched an investigation into the incident, which occurred 32 years to the month that Toronto Police Const. Todd Baylis was shot and murdered nearby.
Pinizzotto, a father of teenage twins, served the Toronto Police Service for 18 years, including five years as a member of the Emergency Task Force. His death has sent shockwaves through the Toronto Police Family.
Demkiw expressed the pain felt by this “profound loss,” stating that it will have a lasting impact on the police service, its members, and the larger policing family.
The Toronto Police Association president, Clayton Campbell, remembered Pinizzotto as a “valued member of our Emergency Task Force,” leaving behind a devastated family.
Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow described the officer’s death as “heartbreaking news for the city,” sharing that she knows Pinizzotto’s mother, Linda, very well and that their grief is shared across the city.
