Helicopter Attack With Gunfire And Grenades Attack Supreme Court Building In Venezuela

Helicopter Attack With Gunfire And Grenades Attack Supreme Court Building In Venezuela

Helicopter attack targets Venezuela's Supreme Court. A police helicopter launched a daring attack on the Venezuelan Supreme Court Tuesday, in a dramatic escalation of the months-long crisis engulfing the regime of President Nicolas Maduro. The helicopter was apparently stolen and piloted by an officer in the country's investigative police force, Oscar Perez. As it strafed the court building and the Interior Ministry in Caracas, the attackers fired gunshots and lobbed grenades, officials said.

Maduro condemned the attack as an attempted coup, saying "terrorists" were behind the offensive and that an operation was under way to track the perpetrators down.

But much remained murky about the assault: if it was an attempt to unseat Maduro's government, it was a spectacular failure. No-one was injured and one of the grenades failed to explode, government officials said.

It was unclear how a rogue police helicopter could have circled high-profile buildings in the Venezuelan capital without being shot down. None of those involved in the attack appear to have been tracked down and the whereabouts of the helicopter remains unknown. Perez, the apparent ringleader, was linked to a 2015 action film, Suspended Death, which he co-produced and starred in as an intelligence agent rescuing a kidnapped businessman, Reuters reported.

Earlier on Tuesday, Maduro appeared to foreshadow an uprising, saying that his supporters would be ready to take up arms if the "Bolivarian revolution" was threatened.

The attack came after months of protests against Maduro's regime and ahead of a vote on July 30 to elect members of a new body that could make changes to the country's constitution.

Before the attack began, a man who identified himself as Perez appeared in a video online saying an operation was underway to seize democracy back from Venezuela's "criminal government." Flanked by a group of men in military fatigues and balaclavas, Perez claimed to be speaking on behalf of a coalition of military, police officers and civil officials.

In his online video message, Perez said he was a pilot in the special response unit of Venezuela's Criminal Investigative Police (CICPC) and demanded that Maduro step down.

"On this day, we are carrying out a deployment by air and land with the sole purpose to return the democratic power to the people and to ensure the laws to establish constitutional order," he said.

Photographs posted online showed a helicopter with the initials of the investigative police unit on its side, flying above the capital, Caracas.

Through an open door an occupant is seen holding a banner saying "Article 350 libertad" -- referring to an article in the Venezuelan constitution that allows citizens to oppose the government should it subvert democratic principles.

Through an open door an occupant is seen holding a banner saying "Article 350 libertad" -- referring to an article in the Venezuelan constitution that allows citizens to oppose the government should it subvert democratic principles. Another video which was shared online shows the helicopter landing on top of a building as a few people below cheered. The helicopter then took off again, although it's not clear where it went.

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