Hockey community grieves slain Toronto cop from Mississauga

Tributes continued to pour in for Marc Pinizzotto, a Toronto Police Service constable and Mississauga-born former Ontario Junior Hockey League team captain, who was shot dead while on duty on Thursday morning.

Pinizzotto was shot while conducting a search warrant in the area of Black Creek and Trethewey drives, Toronto police Chief Myron Demkiw says. An 18-year veteran of the force, he was rushed to Sunnybrook Hospital, where he died.

Police are still searching for a 19-year-old male suspect, while another suspect is in hospital being treated for injuries.

Pinizzotto lived in Oakville and is survived by his wife and two children. He was 43 years old.

He was born in Mississauga and would go on to be captain for the OJHL Oakville Blades Jr ‘A’ club, where Pinizzotto scored 145 points in 160 games and finished his final year with 1.25 points per game.

He later played internationally for the Erfurt Black Dragons in the German Oberliga.

“The Ontario Junior Hockey League is deeply saddened to learn of the tragic passing of former OJHL player Marc Pinizzotto, who lost his life in the line of duty while serving and protecting his community,” the OJHL said in a statement on Thursday. “His passing is a profound loss for his family, his colleagues, his community, and the entire hockey world.”

He was also a former instructor for the Oakville Rangers Hockey Club Skills Academy.

Marc Pizzotto, right, was a captain of the Oakville Blades Jr. ‘A’ club before playing in Germany. (Photo: oakvillerangers.ca)

Const. Marc Pinizzotto and his family are seen in this photo provided by the Toronto Police Service. (Photo: TPS)

Hockey runs in the Pinizzotto family. His brother Steve played in the NHL for the Vancouver Canucks and Edmonton Oilers before playing for Red Bull Munich in Germany, where he won three consecutive championships. And the third Pinizzotto brother, Jason, also played in Germany for the DEL2 where he was the league’s second-highest all-time goal scorer before retiring in 2018.

All three of the Pinizzotto brothers played for the Oakville Blades Jr. ‘A’ club.

“No words can capture the impact on Marc’s family, who expected him to come home today. We as a Service will support them and each other,” Chief Demkiw said. “This loss will have a profound impact on the Toronto Police Family. Our Service, our members, and all members of the larger policing family are deeply saddened.”

Marc was the second Ontario police officer from the Peel area killed in recent days. Tarun Bali, an OPP police officer from Brampton, was also killed while on duty on Tuesday.

Bali was a two-and-a-half-year rookie with the OPP and a member of the Dufferin Detachment. He was struck and killed by a driver during an investigation near the town of Hearst, approximately 260 kilometres west of Timmins.

Prime Minister Mark Carney said the country “mourns the loss of these brave officers who dedicated their lives to protecting their communities.”

“My prayers are with their loved ones, their fellow officers, and their communities in this time of grief,” Carney said in a statement.

– With files from The Canadian Press, Steve Pecar and Glenn Hendry