Venezuelan forces in deadly shoot-out with ‘terrorist’ group headed by rogue policeman Oscar Perez
Venezuelan special forces on Monday captured five members of a band led by a rebellious police officer who has been on the run since stealing a helicopter and launching grenades at government buildings in the capital last year, officials said.
It wasn’t clear if the renegade officer, Oscar Perez, himself had been killed or captured in a deadly gun battle after more than six months on the lam.
Two officers were killed and five seriously wounded during a shoot-out with Perez and his comrades, the Ministry of Interior Relations said in a statement.
Earlier Monday, Perez, 36, posted video clips showing blood dripping across his face as gunshots rang in the background. Perez said officers were firing at the group and wanted to kill him instead of permitting his surrender.
“We’re going to turn ourselves in!” Perez shouted.
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 leapt 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 in the incidents and Perez managed to flee before authorities swarmed in.
Days after his brazen helicopter attack, Perez 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.
“It’s the zero hour,” Perez said in a posting last July as several masked youths looked on from behind. “The true way to pay respects to those who’ve died is for this dictatorship to fall.”
Adding to the intrigue is Perez’s unusual past, which combined work as a highly trained officer, an action-movie actor, pilot and dog trainer.
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 suffering from hunger.
Maduro responded in the following days, vowing to meet Perez with bullets.