Rebellious ex-policeman among dead in Venezuela shootout

CARACAS, Venezuela – Officials in Venezuela confirm that a rebellious police officer who led a brazen attack in Caracas last year was among seven killed in a shootout with armed forces.

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said Tuesday that Oscar Perez is dead. Reverol says that the shootout a day earlier also killed two police officers.

Perez leaped into the spotlight in June when he staged a helicopter attack in Caracas, lobbing grenades at government buildings.

The 36-year-old had been a fugitive since then, posting videos calling for an uprising against what he called President Nicolas Maduro’s tyrannical government.

Perez early Monday posted videos of himself holed up in a house under fire and shouting that he wished to surrender.

The interior minister says Perez led a terrorist cell set on destabilizing Venezuela.