Peru's former president Alan Garcia shot himself in the head as police arrived at his home to arrest him as part of a bribery scandal.
Garcia has been rushed to hospital, where he was taken into emergency surgery and is in a critical condition.
It is believed he was resuscitated three times at hospital and remains in a coma in the theatre.
"The state of health of Alan García is very critical. The situation is very grave," said the Ministry of Health.
Reports said he went into his bedroom when police showed up at his home in Lima on Wednesday morning and shot himself.
Officers provided first aid and rushed him to hospital, which was under heavy guard by armed police wearing riot gear.
Garcia's lawyer confirmed to Peruvian media that the ex-president had shot himself and was in surgery.
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The 69-year-old is under investigation in Peru over allegations of bribery tied to the sweeping Odebrecht corruption scandal.
A judge had ordered the preliminary detention of Garcia and nine other people, including his former secretary general Luis Nava, for a period of ten days.
The former president, who lives much of the year in Spain, allegedly received bribes during the construction of an electric train in Lima, Peru's capital, by Brazilian company Odebrecht.
He has denied the allegations and claimed he is a victim of political persecution.
Late last year, Uruguay rejected Garcia's request for asylum after he had spent about two weeks in that country's embassy in Lima.
He had requested asylum at the embassy in November shortly after a judge had barred him from leaving Peru for 18 months.
After Uruguay’s announcement, he returned to one of his homes in a residential district of Lima.
He was Peru’s president from 1985 to 1990 and again from 2006 to 2011.
After Uruguay denied his asylum request, Peru’s President Martin Vizcarra said the decision was welcome.
Mr Vizcarra tweeted: “In Peru, no one is untouchable. Our democracy guarantees the separation of powers and due process."
Garcia said in a statement last December after his request was denied: "There is no proof that connects me with any crime and even less to Odebrecht or any of its projects."
At the time, he said he would remain at his home in Peru and would cooperate with authorities.
The prosecutor in the case, Jose Perez, has also accused the former president of receiving £76,000 for taking part in a conference in Brazil.
Mr Perez has said the money likely came from an Odebrecht fund used to pay bribes in several Latin American countries.
The sweeping Odebrecht corruption scandal has implicated dozens of high-ranking officials across Latin America who have been accused of taking bribes in exchange for public works contracts.
