LIMA: Former Peru president Alan Garcia died today after shooting himself in the head at his home as police were about to arrest him in a graft investigation, said a party official.
“Alan Garcia has died, long live Apra,” said American Popular Revolutionary Alliance (Apra) party general-secretary Omar Quesada.
It was earlier reported that 69-year-old Garcia was undergoing surgery for “a bullet wound to his head” at the Casimiro Ulloa Emergency Hospital in Lima, the hospital said.
“This morning there was a regrettable accident: the president took the decision to shoot himself,” Erasmo Reyna, Garcia’s lawyer, told reporters outside the hospital.