The South African sprinter known as ‘Blade Runner’ for his prosthetic legs has been arrested for killing his model girlfriend, the MailOnline reports.
Paralympics star Oscar Pistorius was taken into custody and charged with murder after he allegedly shot his girlfriend, former FHM model Reeva Steenkamp, several times in the head, chest and arm. Paramedics treated Steenkamp, 30, but she died at the scene.
Pistorius told police he shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for a burglar at his luxury South Africa mansion in Pretoria. Police found no signs of forced entry.
The shooting occurred at 4 a.m. Thursday in Pistorius’ exclusive estate that is surrounded by high walls and armed guards.
In an interview with London’s MailOnline Pistorius said he feared for his safety. He told the Mail he slept “with a pistol next to his bed, a machine gun by a window with a cricket bat and baseball bat behind the door.”
“The problem is when the [armed] guards are in on the crime. It’s usually safe in guarded estates like this until that happens,” he said.
Pistorius told police he reacted violently after a Valentine’s Day surprise went horribly wrong. Pistorius and Steenkamp had been dating for only a few months. They met at a South African awards ceremony after he achieved worldwide fame in the London Olympics.
Steenkamp was excited about her upcoming Valentine’s Day plans. She tweeted the hashtags “#getexcited” and “#Valentinesday,” and asked her 3,000 followers to tweet their V-day plans on her Twitter page Wednesday.
But her famous boyfriend apparently had a history of violence against women. Pretoria police spokeswoman Denise Beukes said authorities had been called out to Pistorius’s mansion “on several occasions” for “allegations of a domestic nature.”
“Oscar is a humble person and a lovely guy,” his father Henke said. “I’m sure what happened has been a terrible mistake.”
The Johannesburg sprinter was the first double amputee to participate in the regular Olympics. He reached the semi-finals in the 400 meters race at the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
Pistorius’s blade style prosthetic legs was the talk of the London Olympics. The international media dubbed him “the fastest man on no legs.”
Other world class athletes competing in the 400 meter race complained that the prosthetic legs gave Pistorius an unfair advantage.
Photos: MailOnline, Twitter.com, Instagram.com
