Peru's former president has died after shooting himself ahead of arrest

Former Peruvian President Alan García died Wednesday after shooting himself as police tried to arrest him on corruption charges.

García had been accused of taking bribes from a Brazilian construction company during his presidency, and police had orders to arrest him Wednesday. But when they arrived at García's home, the ex-president went into his bedroom and shot himself in the head, The New York Times reports via a Peruvian radio station. He was taken to the hospital, where García's personal secretary and the current president of Peru later confirmed he had died.

When police arrived at García's house Wednesday morning, he reportedly told them he was going to call his lawyer and shut himself in his room. Police then heard a shot and found García inside the room with a seemingly self-inflicted gunshot wound to the head, The Guardian reports via local journalists. He was taken to a hospital around 6:45 a.m., where Peru's health minister said García was in "very serious" condition. He died after being resuscitated multiple times.

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García led Peru from 2006 to 2011, and, along with three other past presidents, has been tied to a bribery scandal involving Brazilian construction magnate Odebrecht. The company admitted it paid $800 million to several Latin American leaders to secure building contracts in a 2016 plea deal with the U.S. Justice Department. García had maintained his innocence even as fellow former President Pedro Pablo Kucyznski was detained last week over the Odebrecht scandal, per The Associated Press.