The shots lit up the sky on Monday night – locals believed them to be drones and anti-aircraft fire.
After the gunfire, armoured vehicles arrived at Miraflores presidential palace, with troops deployed to surrounding areas, witnesses said.
The shots came as a result of confusion between different government forces in the city, Sky News reported.
Venezuelan state drones were performing surveillance in Caracas, but the presidential guard were unaware.
On high alert after US forces captured the country’s president last week, guards at the presidential palace shot at the drones, before being told that they were Venezuelan aircraft.
Cops fired at drones that were “flying without permission” near Urdaneta Ave, Venezuela’s Ministry of Communication and Information said.
It said: “No confrontation occurred, and the entire country is completely calm.”
The ministry did not confirm who had been flying the drones.
A White House official told CNN that “the US is not involved” in the Caracas chaos, but that they are monitoring the situation.
The broadcaster reports that the chaos came as paramilitary groups associated with the Venezuelan government, called “colectivos”, overlapped.
One colectivo member was heard calling for support and backup, before another stated that there had been a misunderstanding.
It comes after Nicolas Maduro fumed in a New York Court on Monday, insisting he was a “prisoner of war” and still the rightful Venezuelan president.
The seized tyrant said in a dramatic rebuke to his sensational capture by US forces: “I am not guilty, I am a decent man, I am still the president of my country.”
Maduro and his wife left court after their hearing which lasted about 30 minutes – and were told they werenextdue to face the judge on March 17.
The US president warnedVenezuela’s new acting leader Delcy Rodríguezthat she could meet an even harsher fate if she fails to cooperate with Washington.
Rodríguez, 56, was sworn in as interim president of the South American country yesterday, in a parliamentary session which also demanded Maduro’s release.
Rodríguez, who has served as vice president since 2018, said she was pained by the “kidnapping” of Maduro and his wife.
Maduro faces charges of narco-terrorism conspiracy, cocaine importation conspiracy, possession of machine guns and destructive devices as well as conspiracy to possess machine guns and destructive devices against the US.