Toronto police officer shot while investigating attack on US consulate

A police officer in the Canadian city of Toronto has been shot and killed while investigating a shooting attack that targeted the United States consulate in March, according to local authorities.

Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw said on Thursday that 43-year-old constable Marc Pinizzotto was shot while executing a search warrant related to the case and later died of his wounds in the hospital.

Demkiw explained that the warrant “concerned a number of shootings, including the shooting at the United States consulate” and that several warrants had been executed that morning.

One suspect involved in Thursday’s shooting was in custody at the hospital, while police continue to search for a second suspect, identified as 19-year-old Zara Jabbi. Police say he is considered armed and dangerous.

“I urge you to turn yourself in,” Demkiw said during a news conference.

Police have continued to probe the March attack on the US consulate, during which two individuals emerged from a vehicle and fired several rounds at the diplomatic facility during the early hours of the morning.

The building was empty and sustained only external damage. Nobody was killed or injured in the incident, which federal police said they would investigate to determine whether it constituted a “terrorist” attack.

Details about the incident remain uncertain, but the consulate had been the site of several tense protests and counterprotests over the US-Israel war against Iran.

Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said that she had known the family of the officer who was killed on Thursday for 20 years and offered condolences.

“The death of Police Constable Marco Pinizzotto is heartbreaking news for our city,” Chow said in a social media post. “There are no words that can ease the pain for the officer’s family, loved ones, and colleagues across the service. This grief is shared across the entire city.”