Oscar Pistorius, the first man to ever compete in both the Paralympics and the Olympics, has been charged with the murder of his girlfriend.

Police were called to the athlete’s home in the early hours of Thursday morning after a shooting was reported; when they arrived, they found that Pistorius’ girlfriend, model Reeva Steenkamp, had been shot to death, suffering wounds in her arms and head. Right now, officials aren’t releasing many details, but it is widely believed that Steenkamp entered the home in order to surprise her boyfriend for Valentine’s Day and he shot her, believing her to be an intruder.

Pistorius–known as “Blade Runner” because of his high-tech prosthetics–is said to have kept several weapons in his home in South Africa due to “previous incidents”, which the police aren’t detailing at this time. It’s thought that the athlete has dealt with intruders in the past, leading him to stock up an arsenal.

Writer Jonathan McEvoy interviewed Pistorius at his home in 2011 and saw the weapons for himself, speculating that Pistorius had begun storing them because of his country’s high crime rate.

“I spoke to him at his house and when we went upstairs to his bedroom so that our photographer could take photos of his running blades, that was when I saw the weapons,” said McEvoy. “There was the pistol by the bed, the machine gun up against the wall, the baseball bat under the window, a cricket bat too. He was concerned by safety and security to a high level, there was no doubt about that.”

The investigation is still ongoing, obviously, and Pistorius has a court date which will likely be held tomorrow. Despite the rumors that it may have been an accident, neighbors reported hearing the sounds of an argument and shouting coming from the home before the shooting occurred.

Reeva Steenkamp
Image: FHM

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