Lima, April 18 -- Former Peruvian President Alan Garcia shot himself in the head and died Wednesday as officers waited to arrest him in a massive graft probe that has put the country's most prominent politicians behind bars and provoked a reckoning over corruption.

Authorities broke through a door at Garcia's mansion in a leafy, upscale neighborhood of the Peruvian capital after hearing gunfire. The 69-year-old former head of state was rushed to a hospital, where a team of doctors performed emergency surgery but could not save him.

"The president, upset over this situation, knowing his absolute innocence ... had this terrible accident," said his lawyer, Erasmo Reyna.

It was a shocking end for a man who twice ruled Peru - once in the 19...