Peru's former president Alan Garcia shoots himself as police try to arrest him
Image: REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo
Peru’s former president Alan Garcia shot himself early on Wednesday after police arrived at his home in the capital Lima to arrest him in connection with a bribery investigation, a police source said.
Garcia, 69, underwent emergency surgery at the Casimiro Ulloa hospital and suffered three cardiac arrests, Health Minister Zulema Tomas said in broadcast comments. She said he was in “very critical” condition.
Local TV channel America reported Garcia was in a coma and broadcast images of Garcia’s son, supporters and lawmakers entering the hospital, where police in riot gear stood by.
“Let’s pray to God to give him strength,” Erasmo Reyna, Garcia’s lawyer, told journalists at the hospital.
Image: REUTERS/Guadalupe Pardo/File Photo
Garcia was under investigation in connection with Brazilian construction company Odebrecht, which triggered Latin America’s biggest graft scandal when it admitted publicly in 2016 that it won lucrative contracts in the region with bribes.
Last year, Garcia asked Uruguay for political asylum after he was banned from leaving the country to keep him from fleeing or obstructing the investigation. Uruguay rejected the request.
Garcia has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.
- Reuters