A Toronto police officer shot and killed while executing a search warrant in North York on Thursday morning was a long-standing member of the force and a former elite hockey player.
Identified as 43-year-old Const. Marc Pinizzotto, the officer worked for the Toronto Police Service for 18 years.
Chief Myron Denkiw said Pinizzotto had spent the last five-plus years of his policing career as a “specially trained” member of the Emergency Task Force (ETF) unit.
‘Dream recruit’
A senior officer who spoke with CP24 on Thursday said he was Pinizzotto’s coach officer when he first joined the force. He described him as a “dream recruit,” someone who had good life experience and a passion for the job.
Clayton Campbell, president of the Toronto Police Association, said while he didn’t know Pinizzotto personally, he had met him “many times” at the ETF, calling him “one of the most well-respected members” of that unit.
“You can see that from the outpouring of support for him and his family, not just from the Emergency Task Force,” he said.
“People from across the service that worked with him over his last 18 years showed up today, went to the hospital to see his family, and there’s a lot of family support.”
Sources tell CP24 that Pinizzotto was a married father of 14-year-old twins, a boy and girl.
Officer came from a hockey family
Pinizzotto was also an accomplished hockey player who competed professionally in Europe prior to joining the Toronto Police Service.
In a statement posted on X, the Ontario Junior Hockey League (OJHL) shared that it is “deeply saddened to learn of the tragic passing” of Pinizzotto.
“On behalf of the OJHL Board of Governors, member teams, players, coaches, alumni, and staff, we extend our heartfelt condolences to Marc’s family, friends, colleagues, and all those whose lives were touched by his remarkable dedication and service,” the organization wrote.
“His passing is a profound loss for his family, his colleagues, his community, and the entire hockey world. Our thoughts and prayers are with all who knew and loved him during this incredibly difficult time.”
Pinizzotto began his hockey career in 1998 as a member of the Stoney Creek Spirit, a Canadian Junior B hockey team that played in the Golden Horseshoe Junior Hockey League from 1994 to 2001. He joined the Oakville Blades Jr. A Hockey Club, which is part of the Ontario Junior Hockey League, for the 1999-2000 season and remained a member of the team until the 2002-2003 season.
He rounded out his career on ice by joining Thuringen EHC based in Erfurt, Germany, for the 2007-2008 season.
His younger brother Steve also played for the Oakville Blades before securing an NCAA scholarship and going on to a career in the NHL.
Further, Pinizzotto’s older brother Jason played for a couple seasons on the Oakville Blades before playing professionally in Germany.
‘Hockey royalty in this area’
Speaking with CP24 late Thursday afternoon, John Verdon, president of the Oakville Rangers Hockey Club, said he’s known Pinizzoto for many years, saying he did amazing things for generations of hockey-loving kids.
Pinizzatto and his two brothers, who also play on various men’s teams and coach teams in the Burlington and Oakville area, ran the P3 Hockey Academy, which they described online as a “top-level hockey program specifically designed to develop on-ice skills plus.”
“They’re hockey royalty in this area,” Verdon shared, adding this unexpected, tragic loss has hit a lot of people really hard.
“People are really shocked. … I’ve never heard anyone say a bad thing about Marc. He is universally well spoken of and well loved.”
Verdon said for more than a decade the Pinizzottos provided coaching and skills training sessions for some of the youngest members of the Oakville Rangers, those ages five to nine.
“They passed on their knowledge, their passion, and their love of the game to them,” he told CP24.
Verdon said Marc had previously served as the head coach of Oakville Rangers but left around five years ago when his son Domenic played for the Burlington City Rep Hockey Club, which is known as the Burlington Eagles. He’d recently returned to his coaching duties with the Rangers, as his son now plays U16-AA with the club.
He added that for now the club’s members and everyone in the close-knit local hockey community are trying to process what has happened, adding they’ll be taking the cue from Pinizzotto’s family about what they’d like to do down the line to celebrate Marc’s life and honour his legacy.
Chow says she knows officer’s mom
At a press conference earlier on Thursday, Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow said she had known Pinizzotto’s mother “very well for 20-plus years,” adding that his family’s grief is “shared across this entire city.”
“Police officers go to work every day, knowing the risk, putting themselves in harm’s way to protect others, and today is a devastating reminder of that sacrifice,” the mayor said.
