A Toronto police officer was fatally shot Thursday while executing search warrants linked to an earlier attack on the U.S. Consulate in Toronto. One suspect was wounded and arrested, while a second remains at large and considered armed and dangerous.
The incident occurred at a high-rise building in North York. Officers from the Emergency Task Force were carrying out multiple warrants connected to a series of shootings, including the March 10 attack on the consulate where two individuals fired at the building with a handgun.
Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was struck during an exchange of gunfire on the building's fourth floor and later pronounced dead at a hospital. He had served with the Toronto Police Service for 18 years. Nicholas Bennett, 19, was arrested with gunshot wounds and faces a first-degree murder charge.
Police identified the second suspect as 19-year-old Zara Jabbi and warned the public not to approach him. Toronto Police Chief Myron Demik expressed deep sadness over the loss, noting its profound impact on the police family.
U.S. authorities have linked the consulate shooting to Mohammad Baqer Saad Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national accused of ties to Kataib Hezbollah. U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra offered condolences to the officer's family.
