An early-morning police raid that left a Toronto police officer dead, and that targeted suspects linked to a shooting at the U.S. consulate in the city, is connected to a wider probe into a network of shooters-for-hire.
A source with knowledge of this investigation said this network is also responsible for shooting at buildings that belong to Canadian waste giant GFL Environmental, as well as private residences and tow-truck companies.
The Globe and Mail is not naming the source as they are not authorized to speak publicly about the case.
American prosecutors previously linked the U.S. consulate shooting to an alleged Iraqi terrorist with ties to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps who was arrested in Turkey in May and remains in U.S. custody. Police did not provide details about potential links to that case on Thursday.
The Toronto Police Service identified the slain officer as Constable Marc Pinizzotto, a 43-year-old member of the Emergency Task Force.
Around 5:40 a.m. on Thursday, dozens of Toronto police and RCMP officers armed with assault rifles and wearing heavy tactical gear descended on a high-rise apartment complex in the northwest end of Toronto on Martha Eaton Way.
One officer carried a chainsaw and another carried a battering ram.
Moments after police entered a unit on the fourth floor of the building, Constable Pinizzotto was fatally shot. Another officer returned fire, striking the shooter multiple times.
About 20 minutes after police entered the building, a Globe reporter witnessed a man on a stretcher being rushed out of the apartment’s front door toward an ambulance, while a paramedic performed chest compressions.
Five minutes later, a second man was brought out on a stretcher and also transported to hospital.
Police said they will be charging 19-year-old Nicholas Bennett with first-degree murder in connection to the officer’s death.
Officers are looking for another suspect, 19-year-old Zara Jabbi, who they say is wanted in connection to the consulate attack.
The Special Investigations Unit, which examines cases in which civilians are seriously injured or killed by police in Ontario, is investigating the incident. SIU spokeswoman Monica Hudon told reporters that the injured gunman is in critical condition.
The Globe asked Toronto police about revelations that Thursday’s raid was connected to the probe into the network of shooters. In an e-mail, spokesperson Ashley Visser said the service could not confirm that detail: “We hope to provide more information on the investigation in the coming days.”
Constable Pinizzotto, a married father of two, had been with the Toronto Police Service for 18 years, including five years as a specially trained ETF member.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said during a press conference Thursday that he and Clayton Campbell, president of the Toronto Police Association, met with Constable Pinizzotto‘s family “at the hospital to confirm this devastating news – they are grieving a profound loss."
“No words can capture the impact on Marc’s family, who expected him to come home today.”
Chief Demkiw said Thursday’s operation involved several search warrants. He confirmed that the investigation “concerned a number of shootings,” including the one on the United States consulate.
On March 10 at 4:30 a.m., two unidentified gunmen shot at the exterior of the U.S. consulate in Toronto. Suspects were seen fleeing the scene in a white Honda CR-V. No one was injured in that attack.
Last week, a senior Toronto Police intelligence official said the RCMP and Toronto Police continued to look into the shooting.
“We are connected with our federal and international partners on that,” Chief Superintendent Katherine Stephenson said.
Authorities in the U.S. last month announced they had arrested an alleged terrorist in Turkey, 32-year-old Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national who they said was behind 18 small-scale attacks and arsons in Europe.
American court documents also allege he has claimed responsibility for two attacks in Canada – including the consulate shooting – since early March, in apparent retaliation for U.S. and Israeli military actions against Iran.
U.S. prosecutors allege Mr. Al-Saadi set up an online terrorist organization known as HAYI (Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamiya) while working with Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps to pay violent individuals in foreign cities to attack Jewish and American targets.
Toronto police previously said they did not have evidence linking Mr. Al-Saadi to the shooting. The RCMP, which oversees national-security investigations, has not replied to requests for more information about the case.
Speaking at the U.S.-Canada Summit in Toronto, U.S. Ambassador Pete Hoekstra opened his remarks by offering his condolences to the family of the slain officer.
“Our thoughts, our prayers are with the family of the police person who was killed. They are with the police community, law enforcement community, in Toronto and Ontario,” he said.
“It’s an example of the close co-operation that we have in law enforcement between the two countries, how we work together, and the risks involved in those types of activities.”
GFL and its sister company Green Infrastructure Partners have been targeted by a series of violent incidents in the past two years. Company executives have had their homes shot at, and other GFL offices and properties have been targeted with gunfire numerous times.
Constable Pinizzotto was remembered by friends and colleagues as a devoted father and a beloved member of the hockey community. The fallen officer was a former elite-level player who was credited with teaching hundreds of children how to skate and shoot a puck.
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, he played four seasons of Junior A hockey with the Oakville Blades, and was named captain in his final year. He then spent a brief period playing in Germany before returning home to start a career in policing.
His older brother Jason stuck with the game, and spent years playing professionally in Europe, while their younger brother Steven played in the NHL with the Vancouver Canucks and the Edmonton Oilers.
In recent years, the trio ran a company called P3 Hockey Academy, providing skills training to hundreds of young players through the Oakville Rangers Hockey Club every year, said John Verdon, the club’s executive director.
“There are literally 10 years worth of kids who’ve come through the Oakville system, who got their earliest start in hockey with the Pinizzotto brothers and Marc,” Mr. Verdon said.
Constable Pinizzotto was also active with his teenage son’s teams over the years, through both the Burlington Eagles and Oakville Rangers clubs.
Corey Locke, executive director of the Burlington Eagles, recalled how much energy the constable put into his volunteer gig as team manager, when his son played with them a few years back.
“He just was in it for the right reasons, volunteering his time and trying to help others,” Mr. Locke said.
Constable Pinizzotto’s death is the second police death this week in Ontario. On Tuesday, Ontario Provincial Police Constable Tarun Bali was killed near Hearst during an investigation. In that case, Justin Veronneau is facing a first-degree murder charge.
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