News
Former president shoots self to avoid arrest
Former President of Peru Alan Garcia has died after shooting himself in the head at his home on Wednesday as police were about to arrest him in a sprawling corruption case.
69-year-old Garcia died from a self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, his death was confirmed by current President Martin Vizcarra, who expressed his condolences over Twitter.
Garcia, who served as president from 1985 to 1990 and from 2006 to 2011, was under investigation for money laundering and taking bribes in connection with a massive corruption scandal that has engulfed a number of former Latin American leaders.
When police arrived to execute an arrest warrant at his home at 6:30 a.m. Wednesday, Garcia asked them to call his attorney and went to his bedroom, interior minister Carlos Morán told CNN affiliate TV Peru.
Moments later, a gunshot was heard. Officers forced entry into the bedroom, where they found Garcia with a wound to the head, Morán said.
He was rushed by police to a hospital in the capital Lima, where he was resuscitated three times, but doctors were ultimately unable to save him, according to the health minister.
Garcia, who was president from 1985-90 and again from 2006-11, is accused of receiving kickbacks from one of Latin America’s largest construction firms – the Brazil-based company Odebrecht, during the building of an electric train for the Lima metro while he was president during his second term. He has denied the claims.
In November he sought refuge in the Uruguayan Embassy and applied for asylum but he left the next month after it was denied.
He is one of four Peruvian ex-presidents embroiled in various corruption scandals alongside Pedro Pablo Kuczynski, Ollanta Humala and Alejandro Toledo.
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