Oscar Pistorius, the South African paralympic athlete known as "Blade Runner" for his two high-tech artificial legs has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend, several reports indicate.
Model Reeva Steenkamp was found shot to death inside the home of the South African Olympic athlete, CBS reports. Pistorius will appear in court on the charge of murder in the death of Steenkamp, who was shot four times in the early hours of Thursday morning.
Police in the South African capital of Pretoria were called to the home of the 26-year-old Pistorius about 3 a.m. and when they arrived on the scene found paramedics trying to revive the 30-year-old Steenkamp, The Associate Press reported.
A South African police spokeswoman said the model died at the house and a 9-mm pistol was recovered at the scene, the AP reported.
Early local reports said Pistorius might have mistaken his girlfriend for a burglar, the AP reported.
South African police report there is no other suspect involved in the murder.
"Yes there are witnesses and there have also been interviews this morning," police spokeswoman Denise Beukes told reporters outside the gated complex where Pistorius lived, CBS reported. "We are talking about neighbors and people that heard things that happened earlier in the evening and when the shooting took place."
Beukes also said there were previous incidents and allegations of a domestic nature at the home of the double-amputee runner, who rose to fame in the 2012 London Olympics after being the first legless runner to compete at the games, CBS reports.
Steenkamp's publicist confirmed the model's death. Known simply as Reeva, she was voted one of FHM's 100 Sexiest Women in the World for two years running. She appeared in national and international advertising campaigns, the CBS report stated.
Pistorius had both of his legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday because of a congenital condition. He won a long campaign to be able to compete against able-bodies athletes. Some critics said his carbon-fiber blades gave him an unfair advantage in running events, but the sport's highest court approved the Blade Runner for competition in 2008 and allowed him to enter the top events, CBS reported.
South Africa has some of the world's highest murder rates, with nearly 50 people killed each day the county of 50 million people, CBS reported.
Statistics from the U.N. show that South Africa has the second-highest shooting rate in the world, second only to Colombia, CBS reported.
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