NIKE wasted no time distancing itself from double amputee sprinter Oscar Pistorius after he allegedly shot his girlfriend to death, CBS affiliate KSTW.com reports.
The 26-year-old paralympics star 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, 29, but she died at the scene.
NIKE hastily removed an advertisement with the phrase “I Am The Bullet In The Chamber” from Oscar Pistorius’ website soon after news broke of his arrest.
The couple had dated for only 3 months after meeting each other at a South African awards ceremony following the Summer Olympics in London. Steenkamp was shot four times, just hours after she excitedly tweeted her Valentine’s day plans on Twitter.com. A handgun was found at the scene.
“This is a very unfortunate story and it is still under investigation,” Seruscka Naidoo, Nike South Africa spokesperson, told The Sun early this morning. “We’ll not make any decision until we hear from Oscar or his agent.”
Pistorius told police he shot Steenkamp after mistaking her for a burglar at his luxury South African mansion in a gated community surrounded by armed guards in Pretoria. Police found no signs of forced entry.
But Pistorius 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.”
