Venezuela's Minister of Interior, Justice and Peace, Néstor Reverol, confirmed the death of ex-policeman Óscar Pérez, after he faced the National Police of Venezuela. "As part of a combined operation called #OperaciónGedeón, this January 15 we achieved the identification of the location where a dangerous group of people was hiding. They had carried terrorist attacks against the headquarters of state institutions, affecting numerous people," he tweeted.
The Minister also confirmed that six other people accompanying Pérez died, identifying them as terrorists. Reverol explained that after "peaceful negotiation attempts, the group began a confrontation that left two police officers dead and eight seriously injured" and added that "in the face of the aggression that put the lives of public officials at risk", they proceeded to respond to the attack. Six other people were arrested and are being processed.
The day of the confrontation, Pérez published several videos of him on his Instagram along with other members of his team. Covered in blood, he was denouncing that members of the police fired at them. "We're wounded ... they're killing us!" he said while gunshots were fired in the background.
In the last video Óscar Pérez posted on Instagram he yelled at the Venezuelan police: "We are going to surrender. Don't keep shooting."
According CNN, President Nicolás Maduro, said Pérez was planning to blow up a car bomb in front of the embassy of a country who supports his regime. Newsweek reported that Pérez was known as the “Venezuelan James Bond” after he stole a police helicopter and attacked government buildings with lob grenades in June 2017. Pérez also broke into a National Guard unit last December to steal weapons and keep his fight against Maduro's leftist government.
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