Johannesburg, Feb 14 (Agencies) : South African police have arrested star sprinter Oscar Pistorius for allegedly shooting dead his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp at his home in Pretoria, local media are reporting.
Officers confirmed that a 30-year-old woman had died after being shot on Thursday morning at the home of the Paralympic and Olympic runner in the Silver Lakes area of Pretoria.
A 26-year-old man was arrested, a police spokeswoman confirmed, with local reports claiming the person was Pistorius.
Local radio and online newspaper reports said Pistorius may have shot her after mistaking her for an intruder, but no details could be confirmed. A spokeswoman for Pretoria police declined to confirm the identity of the man in custody. "I can confirm that a woman has been fatally wounded in a shooting at Oscar Pistorius's house," she said. "A 26-year-old man has been taken into custody. The incident happened at 3am. We received a call and attended the scene. The call did not come from the man in custody but from another person. Currently there is an inquiry into what happened."
Johannesburg's Talk Radio 702 said Pistorius was understood to have shot his girlfriend in the head and arm, although the circumstances surrounding the incident were unclear. He may have mistaken her for a burglar, the radio report said. South Africa has some of the world's highest rates of violent crime and some homeowners carry weapons to defend themselves against intruders.
Pistorius, known as Blade Runner thanks to the carbon fibre prosthetic blades he wears to race is the world's best-known Paralympic star. He was born without a fibula in both legs and had his legs amputated as a 11-month-old. He made history at London 2012 when he became the first double amputee to run in the Olympics and Paralympics, running in the 400m and 4x400m relay at the Olympics. During and after the competition he regularly tweeted pictures of him and his girlfriend together.
The Johannesburg-born athlete won a legal battle over his blades with the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) in 2008 for the right to compete in able-bodied competition.