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Venezuelan rebel police officer killed in shootout with special forces Venezuelan rebel police officer killed in shootout with special forces
(about 1 hour later)
Óscar Pérez led helicopter attack on supreme court last JuneÓscar Pérez led helicopter attack on supreme court last June
Pérez posted video during shootout saying he wanted to surrenderPérez posted video during shootout saying he wanted to surrender
Associated Press in CaracasAssociated Press in Caracas
Tue 16 Jan 2018 17.23 GMTTue 16 Jan 2018 17.23 GMT
First published on Tue 16 Jan 2018 16.34 GMTFirst published on Tue 16 Jan 2018 16.34 GMT
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A rebellious police officer who led a brazen attack in Caracas last year was among seven people killed in a shootout with armed forces, Venezuelan officials have confirmed.A rebellious police officer who led a brazen attack in Caracas last year was among seven people killed in a shootout with armed forces, Venezuelan officials have confirmed.
Óscar Pérez – who has been on the run since stealing a helicopter and launching grenades at government buildings last year – was among those killed in the confrontation near Caracas on Monday, said interior minister, Nestor Reverol. Óscar Pérez – who has been on the run since stealing a helicopter and launching grenades at government buildings last year – was among those killed in the confrontation near Caracas on Monday, said interior minister Nestor Reverol.
“The terrorist acts committed by this terrorist cell showed the destabilizing objectives that they were pursuing,” Reverol said.“The terrorist acts committed by this terrorist cell showed the destabilizing objectives that they were pursuing,” Reverol said.
Two police officers were killed and eight others gravely injured, he said.Two police officers were killed and eight others gravely injured, he said.
“The members of this terrorist cell who conducted armed resistance were taken down and five criminals captured and detained,” the statement said. Opposition lawmakers and human rights groups called for a transparent investigation into the deaths after video showed Perez shouting over gunfire that they wished to surrender.
President Nicolás Maduro in a televised address on Monday night claimed the group was preparing a car bomb to use against an embassy, without giving details. “We’re going to turn ourselves in!” Perez said in the video.
Earlier on Monday, Pérez, 36, posted video clips showing blood dripping across his face as gunshots rang in the background. Pérez said officers were firing at the group and wanted to kill him instead of permitting his surrender. A former police officer, action-movie star and pilot, Perez leapt into the spotlight in June, when he stole a helicopter and used it to lob grenades and fire at two government buildings in Caracas. Nobody was killed in the attack.
“We’re going to turn ourselves in!” Pérez shouted. Perez, 36, had been one of Venezuela’s most wanted fugitives ever since, periodically posting videos on Instagram calling upon Venezuelans to take to the streets against what he called Nicolas Maduro’s tyrannical government.
He holed up with at least two other men in what appeared to be a home in mountains outside Caracas. He urged Venezuelans in the video clips to fight against the socialist government. Perez claimed that he was fighting for Venezuela’s freedom from a government that is starving its people. He won tens of thousands of followers online and has piqued the curiosity of Venezuelans who either hail him as hero, condemn him as a criminal, or question if he might be a ruse to support Maduro’s assertion that the nation is under attack by opposition conspirators.
“I want to ask Venezuela not to lose heart – fight, take to the streets,” he said. “It is time for us to be free, and only you have the power now.” In December, Perez posted videos showing him and a small armed band taking over a military outpost and smashing a portrait of Maduro with his foot. Perez and the assailants berated several detained guardsmen for doing nothing to help their fellow citizens.
Pérez leaped into the spotlight in June when he staged a dramatic helicopter attack in Caracas, lobbing grenades at the supreme court and interior ministry buildings in broad daylight. No one was injured and Pérez managed to flee before authorities swarmed in. Perez surfaced online again early Monday in videos blood dripping across his face and holed up in a mountainside house.
In numerous videos posted on Instagram, Pérez has claimed that he is fighting for Venezuela’s freedom from a tyrannical government that is starving its people. He now has tens of thousands of followers online and has piqued the curiosity of Venezuelans who either hail him as hero, condemn him as a criminal or question if he might be a ruse to support President Maduro’s assertion that the nation is under attack by conspirators. Perez shouted over a spray of gunfire that the group wished to surrender, but that the police outside were set on killing them.
Days after his brazen helicopter attack, Pérez rode into Caracas on a motorcycle and appeared at an anti-government protest. Near-daily demonstrations against Maduro’s rule over a four-month span last year left at least 120 people dead. “I want to ask Venezuela not to lose heart fight, take to the streets,” he said. “It is time for us to be free, and only you have the power now.”
“It’s the zero hour,” Pérez said in a posting last July as several masked youths looked on. “The true way to pay respects to those who’ve died is for this dictatorship to fall.” Reverol said that an intense search finally led security forces to the house. Perez’s group opened fire first, requiring a response from authorities, he said.
Adding to the intrigue was Pérez’s unusual past, which combined work as a highly trained officer, an action-movie actor, pilot and dog trainer. Troops arrested another six people identified as members, collaborators and financiers of the group. They also confiscated rifles, smoke grenades, military uniforms, ammunition, and a pickup, officials said.
In December, Pérez posted videos showing him and a small armed band taking over a military outpost and smashing a portrait of Maduro with his foot. Mystery surrounded Perez’s fate for nearly 24 hours as officials remained silent until the announcement on state television that he was among the dead.
Maduro responded in the following days, vowing to meet Pérez with bullets. “How is it possible that while surrendering, they riddled him with bullets?” said Delsa Solorzano, the National Assembly deputy assigned to head the commission.
Solorzano called for the government turn the bodies over to relatives rather than cremate them, allowing for a transparent investigation.
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