SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico (AP) – A fugitive Puerto Rican nationalist was shot and killed by federal agents after he opened fire as they came to arrest him for a 1983 robbery of an armored truck in Connecticut, the FBI said Saturday.

Filiberto Ojeda Rios, 72, who had been on the run for 15 years and became a heroic figure for some in the Puerto Rican independence movement, opened fire on the agents Friday from a farmhouse in the western Puerto Rican town of Hormigueros, said Luis Fraticelli, the special agent in charge of the FBI for the U.S. island territory. An FBI agent was wounded in the shootout.

“He opened the front door of his house and opened fire on the agents,” Fraticelli said at a news conference amid protests from pro-independence Puerto Ricans who accused the FBI of mishandling the arrest.

“We went to arrest him but when the gunfire started we had to defend ourselves,” Fraticelli said. “This was in self-defense.”

Ojeda Rios had been on the run since 1990 when he cut off an electronic monitoring bracelet and went into hiding while awaiting trial for the robbery of $7.2 million from the Wells Fargo depot in West Hartford, Conn.

The robbery is considered an act of domestic terrorism because the money was used to fund activities by the Puerto Rican nationalist Macheteros, or Cane Cutters. Only about $80,000 of the $7 million has been recovered.

The FBI found Ojeda Rios’ body Saturday with two bullet wounds to the shoulder, Fraticelli said. Ojeda Rios was wearing a bulletproof vest, and a gun was found by his side.

The agents waited until midday Saturday to enter the farmhouse because they were unsure if there were explosives inside, Fratecelli said.

The agents, who had been staking out the farmhouse for four days, waited for team trained in detecting explosives to arrive from Virginia.

Fraticelli said the FBI tried to persuade Ojeda Rios to surrender but negotiations fell apart in about a minute. He said the nationalist had demanded that a reporter be present, but the FBI refused, fearing the journalist could be taken hostage.

The FBI agents also arrested Ojeda Rios’ wife, Elma Rosado Barbosa, who was unharmed. She was released without charge Saturday evening from a federal prison outside the capital of San Juan, said her lawyer, Julio Fontanet.

Puerto Ricans who have argued for decades about their island’s relationship with the United States were unified in criticizing the FBI’s handling of the arrest.

Independence activists hailed Ojeda Rios as a martyr whose death would unify their splintered and marginalized movement.

“I always said that when they went to arrest him, they would have to kill him,” said Juan Mari Bras, a veteran independence leader. “I am proud of his heroism and his valor.”

Independence Party President Ruben Berrios, a critic of the violent tactics of the Macheteros, called Ojeda Rios’ death “shameful.”

Puerto Rico Gov. Anibal Acevedo Vila, who supports keeping the island’s status as a U.S. Commonwealth, criticized the FBI for refusing to provide information about Ojeda Rios’ fate until Saturday evening. He said Puerto Rican authorities would investigate.

The robbery became the most notorious act by the Macheteros, who have been largely inactive for more than a decade. The group also claimed credit for the 1981 bombing of 11 military planes at a U.S. National Guard base in Puerto Rico. Two marines were killed.

The Macheteros claimed they used the money from the robbery to buy presents for impoverished Hispanic children in the United States and Puerto Rico. After the robbery, gifts from anonymous senders turned up in several Hispanic neighborhoods.

Ojeda Rios was one of four men still wanted for the robbery. He was released on bail in 1988 after about three years in prison awaiting trial in Connecticut. While in hiding, he was convicted in 1992 on charges of robbery, conspiracy and transportation of stolen money and was sentenced to 55 years in prison.

In hiding, the grey-bearded Ojeda Rios sometimes granted interviews to Puerto Rican reporters, always wearing a traditional Caribbean guayabera shirt. He died on the anniversary of a brief 1868 rebellion against Spanish colonial rule in the western town of Lares. Ojeda Rios traditionally distributed a recorded speech to mark the anniversary.

“It’s not a coincidence,” Pesquera said. “They chose the moment, the date and the political circumstances to carry out this assassination.”

The FBI earlier this year increased a reward for information leading to Ojeda Rios’ capture from $500,000 to $1 million.

The United States seized Puerto Rico in the Spanish-American War. Puerto Ricans are U.S. citizens but cannot vote for U.S. president, have no voting representation in the U.S. Congress and pay no federal taxes. Most are split between those who support making the island a U.S. state and those who favor keeping the commonwealth status. A small but vocal minority supports independence.