Toronto police officer fatally shot in investigation tied to U.S. consulate shootings: chief

A Toronto police constable has died after being shot following an exchange of gunfire with a suspect in the northwest end of the city Thursday morning, Chief Myron Demkiw says.

Const. Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was “a hero in life, not death,” Demkiw said at a news conference outside Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre.

“There’s a very heavy sorrow in our community right now,” Demkiw told reporters through tears.

The shooting happened as officers were conducting an investigation linked to several other incidents involving firearms around the Greater Toronto Area, Demkiw said, including one that took place at the U.S. consulate in March.

An “exchange of gunfire” broke out while police were carrying out a search warrant at a residential building near Tretheway Drive and Black Creek Drive around 5:40 a.m., said Special Investigations Unit spokesperson Monica Hudon.

Read more: CBC News