Canada police investigate whether Toronto police death linked to global terror attacks

Constable Marc Pinizzotto, 43, was killed while executing search warrants related to a shooting at US consulate

Investigators in Canada are probing whether the death of a Toronto police officer, who was killed while executing search warrants related to a shooting at US consulate, is linked a broader series of global terror attacks.

Constable Marc Pinizzotto, a 43-year-old member of the emergency task force, was killed on Thursday during a dawn search of an apartment building in the city’s west.

Toronto police chief Myron Demkiw told reporters the search “concerned a number of shootings” including one targeting the US consulate in Toronto earlier this year.

That attack took place in early March, when two gunmen opened fire at the US consulate in Toronto. No one was injured and the suspected shooters fled in a white vehicle.

A police source said the investigation is looking at whether the shooters are part of a broader, city-wide network of “shooters-for-hire” that has targeted buildings owned by large waste management company and private homes.

In recent years, Toronto and surrounding communities have been rocked by a series of escalating attacks on tow truck companies, including high profile murders and allegations of police corruption and investigators suspect the shooters could have ties to some of these attacks.

The source said investigators were also looking the possibility that the case was linked to a global terror network that has threatened retribution for US attacks on Iran.