On 17 April 2019, García died from self-inflicted gunshot to the head as police officers were preparing to arrest him over matters relating to the Odebrecht scandal. He was transferred in serious condition to the Casimiro Ulloa hospital, where he remained for more than three hours in the operating room, during which time he had three cardiorespiratory arrests before his death. García became the second head of state of Peru to die of suicide after Gustavo Jiménez, who did so in 1933.