SIU clears Toronto officer who shot suspect accused of killing Const. Marc Pinizzotto
The police watchdog said officers had 'no alternative' but to use lethal force during a North York raid in June.
TORONTO — Ontario's police watchdog has cleared a Toronto police officer of any wrongdoing after he shot a suspect who had moments earlier fatally shot Const. Marc Pinizzotto during a raid last June.
In a report released Friday, Special Investigations Unit director Joseph Martino said there is no basis for criminal charges against the officer who fired multiple rounds at 19-year-old Nicholas Bennett during an emergency task force operation in North York on June 11.
"There can be no doubt that the officers believed their lives to be in danger and that they acted to protect themselves from grievous bodily harm and death," Martino wrote.
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The SIU said the ETF planned to secure an apartment near Black Creek Drive and Trethewey Drive before the police's Integrated Guns and Gangs Task Force executed a search warrant as part of a firearms investigation.
Officers forced their way into the apartment around 5:40 a.m. Pinizzotto, 43, turned into a hallway, where a man at the first bedroom on the right fired his pistol three times at him, the report said.
Pinizzotto discharged four rounds from his rifle before collapsing. The police officer who was the subject of the SIU investigation was behind Pinizzotto and fired his rifle nine times, paused, then shot five more times at the man.
"The complainant's use of a gun against the officers left them with no alternative but to try to defend themselves with a resort to lethal force of their own," Martino wrote.
He added that retreat was not a viable option and less-lethal weapons would have exposed officers to greater risk.
Pinizzotto was taken to Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, where he was pronounced dead. He had been a Toronto police officer for 18 years and a member of the ETF for five.
Bennett suffered gunshot wounds to the chest, abdomen, back, flank, right arm and both legs. He was taken to hospital, survived, and was later charged with first-degree murder.
Toronto Police Chief Myron Demkiw said the SIU decision brings that investigation to an end but does not diminish the loss the service continues to feel.
"On that day, we lost Constable Marc Pinizzotto, a dedicated member of our Emergency Task Force, a respected colleague, and a friend," Demkiw said in a statement on social media. "Marc gave his life in service to others, and his sacrifice will never be forgotten."
Clayton Campbell, president of the Toronto Police Association, said the association is pleased with the SIU decision but it is a reminder of what was lost.
"A proud police officer was murdered in a senseless act of violence and the only one responsible for that tragedy is the man who shot him," Campbell said.
The SIU said the raid was connected to an investigation into multiple shootings, including one at the U.S. Consulate in March. Bennett was the target of the warrant, and police had information that he was armed.
Other people who were in the apartment at the time were not injured.
Bennett is expected to be back in court Nov. 4.
With files from The Canadian Press, CityNews and CBC News