Venezuela's Supreme Court was attacked on Wednesday when a helicopter dropped grenades on the federal building. Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro has called the assault on the institution a "terrorist attack."
Officials said that at least four grenades were dropped on the court and 15 shots were fired at the interior ministry, according to Reuters reports.
A video clip of the incident showed a police helicopter circling over the city before shots and a loud bang were heard, according to BBC reports. A police officer is said to have flown the stolen aircraft over the government building; he also issued a statement denouncing the "criminal government."
The assailant's whereabouts are currently unknown. The attack has come soon after mass protests were held in the country against the political and economic crisis which has rattled the nation.
The Venezuelan opposition regularly criticises the Supreme Court for its rulings, which increase the president's hold on power in the country.
President Maduro gave an address from the presidential palace stating that the helicopter had flown over the Supreme Court and also over the justice and interior ministries.
No injuries have been reported in the incident yet, however, President Maduro said that a "social event" had been taking place at the SC building when the attack occurred and it could have caused "dozens of deaths".
The president also added that one of the grenades thrown at the SC failed to detonate. Maduro has placed the Venezuelan military on alert.
"I have activated the entire armed forces to defend the peace," he said. "Sooner or later, we are going to capture that helicopter and those who carried out this terror attack."
The police officer flying the aircraft identified himself as Oscar Pérez in a video clip posted on the social media platform, Instagram.
Perez, in the video, appealed to Venezuelans to oppose "tyranny."
"We are a coalition of military employees, policemen and civilians who are looking for balance and are against this criminal government," he said. "We don't belong to any political tendency or party. We are nationalists, patriots and institutionalists," the assailant said in the video statement.
He also added that the "fight" was not against the security forces but "against the impunity of this government. It is against tyranny".
