Venezuelan police have killed a former police officer who had been on the run after stealing a helicopter and attacking government buildings six months ago, according to officials.

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol confirmed on Twitter on Tuesday that Oscar Perez was killed with six accomplices in a gun battle near the capital, Caracas, on Monday.

Six members of Perez's group, who Reverol called members of a "terrorist cell", were arrested by police.

Two police officers were also killed in the operation.

In June 2017, Perez and several unidentified accomplices used a stolen helicopter to launch four grenades at the Supreme Tribunal in Caracas, before shooting at the interior ministry with firearms.

On Monday, an elite Venezuelan police force located Perez and his allies in El Junquito, on the outskirts of Caracas.

During the raid, Perez posted several videos of himself online showing injuries from a clash between him and the authorities.

In some of the Instagram videos, shots can be heard.

"They are firing at us with grenade launchers. We said we are going to surrender, but they do not want to let us surrender. They want to kill us," a bloodied Perez said.

However, Venezuelan authorities said the polices forces came under attack by Perez's group as they were negotiating a surrender, claiming the group tried to detonate a vehicle loaded with explosives.

People in El Junquito took to the streets to show their support of Perez, who became Venezuela's most wanted man after the helicopter attack.

Shortly after that incident, Perez declared that he belonged to an uprising of members of the security forces who were fed up with President Nicolas Maduro's administration.

The Venezuelan authorities later issued an arrest warrant in which he was accused of a "terrorist attack".</s>Club: Callaway Rogue drivers

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At the heart of the Rogue drivers are two features that work together to provide more distance: an updated Jailbreak system and a re-designed variable-thickness face.

“This is really the next generation of Jailbreak,” said Evan Gibbs, Callaway’s director of research and development for metalwoods. “There are two titanium rods that connect the crown and sole inside the head, and their purpose is to add stiffness to the body and minimize the amount of deflection in the body during impact. This minimizes the amount of energy lost in the body and focuses that energy to the face.”

The Jailbreak rods in the Rogue drivers have an hourglass shape and are each 25 percent lighter. At the same time, the Rogue drivers were given a face that is thicker in the center and thinner around the perimeter. The thicker areas form an X.

“The focus is really to increase ball speeds when you don’t hit the center of the face,” Gibbs said. “Working in tandem with Jailbreak, the new face delivers higher and more consistent speeds across the face.”

The Rogue drivers have a triaxial carbon-composite crown, as did the Epic drivers, but the carbon-fiber piece is larger to help lower the Rogue’s center of gravity and create more discretionary weight. That allowed Callaway designers to shift more of the Rogue’s overall weight to the back of the head and increase the moment of inertia. The Rogue’s 8,800 kgm2 total MOI dwarfs the MOI of the driver it replaces in Callaway’s line-up, the XR16, which has an MOI if 7,500 kgm2. It’s also higher than the Epic’s 8,000 kgm2.

To help golfers create more clubhead speed, Callaway teamed with aerospace company Boeing to develop a design that keeps airflow moving efficiently over the leading edge and the seam where the hitting area and crown meet.

Aside from the standard Rogue, Callaway is offering a Rogue Draw driver with the same features and benefits, but its 5-gram external sole weight was shifted from the back-center area of the sole toward the heel. This should help the face close more easily on the downswing and square more easily, reducing the severity of a slice. Compared to the Epic with its sliding weight affixed all the way to the right, Callaway says the Rogue Draw has 7 more yards of right-to-left bias. Compared to the standard Rogue, it has 17 yards of draw bias.

For golfers who create excessive spin, Callaway offers the Rogue Sub Zero. This club has two weight screws, a 2-gram in the back and a 14-gram in the front, directly behind the leading edge. They can be swapped, but when the heavier weight is forward the club produces about 200 rpm less spin. Shifting the 14-gram weight to the back further increases MOI and stability. The Rogue Sub Zero creates 300 rpm less spin than the standard Rogue, and also less spin than the Epic Sub Zero.</s>Caracas (CNN) Oscar Perez, a Venezuelan police pilot accused of stealing a helicopter and using it to attack the country's Supreme Court in June, was killed Monday in Caracas, a government official told CNN.

The high-ranking member of the Venezuelan government asked to remain anonymous. CNN has not been able to independently confirm Perez's death.

But, in a Monday speech to lawmakers, President Nicolas Maduro described an operation to hunt down the "terrorist group that attacked the Supreme Court." Maduro said the targeted group was preparing a car bomb attack against the embassy of an unnamed country.

As a result of the operation, part of the terrorist group "fell down" and five people were arrested, he said, without detailing how many died or who they were. Two officers were killed in the siege, he said.

"Everyone who embarks on the path of terrorism and takes up arms against the republic -- against the people -- will get their response in due time from our armed forces and from our police forces. They should not doubt that," he said.

Read More</s>Venzuelan President Nicolas Maduro says the government's Denfense Council met Monday to discuss the threats of war from neighboring Colombia. | Read More</s>Oscar Perez, a Venezuelan police pilot accused of stealing a helicopter and using it to attack the country’s Supreme Court in June, was killed Monday in Caracas, a government official told CNN.

The high-ranking member of the Venezuelan government asked to remain anonymous. CNN has not been able to independently confirm Perez’s death.

But, in a Monday speech to lawmakers, President Nicolas Maduro described an operation to hunt down the “terrorist group that attacked the Supreme Court.” Maduro said the targeted group was preparing a car bomb attack against the embassy of an unnamed country.

As a result of the operation, part of the terrorist group “fell down” and five people were arrested, he said, without detailing how many died or who they were. Two officers were killed in the siege, he said.

“Everyone who embarks on the path of terrorism and takes up arms against the republic — against the people — will get their response in due time from our armed forces and from our police forces. They should not doubt that,” he said.

According to a statement from the country’s Interior Ministry, heavily armed men from a “terrorist cell” opened fire on police and attempted to detonate a vehicle full of explosives, state broadcaster VTV reported.

The Interior Ministry said two officers were killed and five injured, and five people from the “terrorist cell” were arrested, VTV reported. Authorities have not released the names of those killed or captured.

The encounter took place in the western Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito.

Earlier Monday, Perez posted videos on social media saying his group was under attack. In the video, Perez holds a rifle and speaks to the camera with what appears to be blood on his face.

“We are not shooting and they keep attacking us,” Perez says. “We are trying to negotiate because there are innocent people here, there are civilians … they literally want to kill us.”

Perez, an officer in the country’s investigative police force, is known for leading a helicopter attack against the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court in June. The helicopter circled the city as Perez and his group, Equilibrio Nacional (National Balance), attacked the buildings with grenades and gunfire. No one was injured.

Perez disappeared after the incident and was declared a fugitive by President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

“It is better to go out and fight for a new future than to die kneeling to this regime,” Perez said in an interview with CNN en Español that aired Friday.

The rebel pilot had earned the moniker of Venezuelan Rambo, according to the Los Angeles Times.</s>CARACAS, VENEZUELA (CBSMiami/CNN) — A Venezuelan police pilot accused of stealing a helicopter to attack the country’s Supreme Court in June was killed Monday, a government official said.

The high-ranking member of the Venezuelan government asked to remain anonymous. CNN has not been able to independently confirm Oscar Perez’s death.

But, in a Monday speech to lawmakers, President Nicolas Maduro described an operation to hunt down the “terrorist group that attacked the Supreme Court.” Maduro said the targeted group was preparing a car bomb attack against the embassy of an unnamed country.

As a result of the operation, part of the terrorist group “fell down” and five people were arrested, he said, without detailing how many died or who they were. Two officers were killed in the siege, he said.

“Everyone who embarks on the path of terrorism and takes up arms against the republic — against the people — will get their response in due time from our armed forces and from our police forces. They should not doubt that,” he said.

According to a statement from the country’s Interior Ministry, heavily armed men from a “terrorist cell” opened fire on police and attempted to detonate a vehicle full of explosives, state broadcaster VTV reported.

The Interior Ministry said two officers were killed and five injured, and five people from the “terrorist cell” were arrested, VTV reported. Authorities have not released the names of those killed or captured.

The encounter took place in the western Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito.

Earlier Monday, Perez posted videos on social media saying his group was under attack. In the video, Perez holds a rifle and speaks to the camera with what appears to be blood on his face.

“We are not shooting and they keep attacking us,” Perez says. “We are trying to negotiate because there are innocent people here, there are civilians … they literally want to kill us.”

Perez, an officer in the country’s investigative police force, is known for leading a helicopter attack against the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court in June. The helicopter circled the city as Perez and his group, Equilibrio Nacional (National Balance), attacked the buildings with grenades and gunfire. No one was injured.

Perez disappeared after the incident and was declared a fugitive by President Nicolas Maduro’s government.

“It is better to go out and fight for a new future than to die kneeling to this regime,” Perez said in an interview with CNN en Español that aired Friday.</s>A high-ranking member of the Venezuelan government who asked to remain anonymous confirmed Oscar Perez's death. CNN has not been able to independently confirm his death.

According to a statement from the country's Interior Ministry, heavily armed men from a "terrorist cell" opened fire on police and attempted to detonate a vehicle full of explosives, state broadcaster VTV reported.

The Interior Ministry said two officers were killed and five injured, and five people from the "terrorist cell" were arrested, VTV reported. Authorities have not released the names of those killed or captured.

The encounter took place in the western Caracas neighborhood of El Junquito.

Earlier Monday, Perez posted videos on social media saying his group was under attack. In the video, Perez holds a rifle and speaks to the camera with what appears to be blood on his face. "We are not shooting and they keep attacking us," Perez says. "We are trying to negotiate because there are innocent people here, there are civilians ... they literally want to kill us." Perez, an officer in the country's investigative police force, is known for leading a helicopter attack against the Ministry of Justice and the Supreme Court in June. The helicopter circled the city as Perez and his group, Equilibrio Nacional (National Balance), attacked the buildings with grenades and gunfire. No one was injured. Perez disappeared after the incident and was declared a fugitive by President Nicolas Maduro's government. "It is better to go out and fight for a new future than to die kneeling to this regime," Perez said in an interview with CNN en Español that aired Friday.</s>Venezuelan authorities on Monday broke up the group headed by police officer Oscar Perez, who is accused of staging a "terrorist attack" on the Supreme Court, in an operation in which at least five members of the group died, the Interior Ministry announced.

"The members of this terrorist cell who engaged in armed resistance were killed and five criminals were captured and arrested," the Venezuelan government said on state-run VTV television.

Two police officers also died in the operation and five others were "seriously wounded," according to the government communique.

The statement, which provided no further details about the people arrested or the members of the group who were killed, said that the officers who died were "treacherously attacked" by the group.

"They were strongly dug in with high-caliber weaponry ... (and) opened fire on the officers tasked with their capture and tried to blow up a vehicle loaded with explosives," said the Interior Ministry, adding that the group was planning to detonate "car bombs in public places."

Perez, who became publicly known in July 2017 when, amid anti-government protests, dropped several grenades - the government said - from a police helicopter onto two government buildings in Caracas, reported on Monday morning that the authorities had located him after more than six months on the run.

He posted a series of videos on Instagram in which he said that the authorities had him and the group of people accompanying him surrounded.

In several of the videos, Perez said that he wanted to surrender, but he said that the police had not stopped firing on him and the group despite his willingness to give up.

In his last video, Perez can be seen with smudges or stains - apparently blood - on his face and shouting "We're going to give up, stop shooting!"

Perez said in the last video that some members of his group had been wounded.

In other videos, he said that the security forces told him that they wanted to kill him and that they didn't want him to surrender. He also addressed his children to tell them that what he had done was for them and for "all the children" in Venezuela.

He also called for humanitarian and international help for Venezuela, given its current situation, and exhorted his fellow citizens to take to the streets, saying that "it's the only way out" of the country's dilemma.</s>Rogue Venezuelan helicopter pilot Oscar Perez was killed in a police operation on Monday along with six other anti-government militants, the interior minister said on Tuesday, spurring opposition complaints of human rights violations.

Perez, a photogenic former police officer who once starred in an action film, last year used a hijacked helicopter to attack government buildings and stole weapons from a military base in what he called a rebellion against President Nicolas Maduro.

He appeared with a bloody face in nearly a dozen Instagram videos early on Monday, saying he was surrounded by authorities shooting at him with grenade launchers even though he was promising to surrender.

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said seven “terrorists” including Perez were killed in the operation outside Caracas along with two police officers involved in the raid.

“In the face of an attack that put the lives of security officials at risk, the attacking group was neutralised using established protocols, with the unfortunate result of seven dead terrorists,” Reverol said in a televised broadcast.

Perez rose to fame in June after allegedly hijacking a police helicopter, flying over Caracas’ centre and firing shots at and lobbing grenades on the Interior Ministry and the Supreme Court.

He claimed responsibility for the attack, saying it was to fight what he said was a tyrannical government. He went into hiding afterward, but frequently appeared in videos that circulated on social media calling for resistance to Maduro.

The government described him as a “fanatic, extremist terrorist” and had been carrying out a manhunt for him since last June.

Critics initially questioned whether Perez’ attacks were staged in cahoots with the government to justify a further crackdown on the opposition.

But his death prompted an outcry over what critics called an extrajudicial killing and turned him into a martyr for hard-line foes of Maduro.

“We saw a group of civilians surrendering but, despite that, they were massacred,” said lawmaker Delsa Solorzano, who said the opposition-run congress would investigate Perez’ “execution.”

Venezuela is suffering an unprecedented economic crisis that has left its once-prosperous citizens suffering from rising malnutrition and preventable diseases. Foods and medicine are increasingly out of people’s reach because they are not available at supermarkets or are too expensive.

Maduro says the country is the victim of an “economic war” led by political adversaries and fuelled by economic sanctions levied by the government of US President Donald Trump.</s>'Rambo' police pilot Oscar Perez, who hijacked helicopter, killed in operation in Venezuela

Rogue Venezuelan helicopter pilot Oscar Perez has been killed in a police operation along with six other militants, spurring Opposition complaints of human rights violations.

Mr Perez was a former police officer and action film star who portrayed himself as a James Bond-Rambo figure on social media.

Last year he hijacked a helicopter and attacked government buildings and stole weapons from a military base, in what he called a rebellion against President Nicolas Maduro.

He appeared with a bloody face in nearly a dozen Instagram videos while under siege, saying he was surrounded by authorities shooting at him with grenade launchers even though he was promising to surrender.

Interior Minister Nestor Reverol said seven "terrorists" including Mr Perez were killed in the operation outside Caracas, along with two police officers involved in the raid.

Mr Perez had been a member of the forensic police for 15 years before he made headlines.

He went into hiding after the attack on government buildings in June, but frequently appeared in videos that circulated on social media calling for resistance to Mr Maduro.

The Government described him as a "fanatic, extremist terrorist".

Critics initially questioned whether Mr Perez's attacks were staged by the Government to justify a further crackdown on the Opposition.

But his death prompted an outcry over what critics called an extrajudicial killing and turned him into a martyr.

"We saw a group of civilians surrendering but, despite that, they were massacred," said MP Delsa Solorzano, who said the Opposition-run congress would investigate Mr Perez's "execution".

Venezuela is suffering an unprecedented economic crisis that has left its citizens suffering from rising malnutrition and preventable diseases.

Foods and medicine are increasingly out of people's reach because they are not available or are too expensive.

Mr Maduro has said the country is the victim of an "economic war" led by political adversaries and fuelled by economic sanctions levied by the Government of US President Donald Trump.
The Venezuelan government confirms that Óscar Pérez, the rogue pilot responsible for the Caracas helicopter incident in June 2017, was killed in a firefight with the Venezuelan Army yesterday. Two police officers and seven people from Pérez's group were killed, and six members of Pérez's group were arrested.