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| Oscar Pistorius and girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp |
Local media reported that the woman was his girlfriend and she was shot in the head and arm at his home in Pretoria. He is alleged to have accidentally shot her after mistaking her for a burglar.
The incident is said to have happened at 4am today. There was speculation in the local press that it may have been a Valentine's Day surprise gone wrong.
The Beeld newspaper named his girlfriend as model Reeva Steenkamp, 30, and said Pistorius was expected to appear in court later today.
A police spokeswoman declined to confirm the identity of the man in custody but said: "I can confirm that a woman has been fatally wounded in a shooting at Oscar Pistorius's house.
"A 26-year-old man has been taken into custody."
Police spokesman Katlego Mogale told local media: "At this stage we are still conducting a preliminary inquiry. Statements are conducted with neighbours and people who were at the scene. A case of murder was being investigated."
He told the South African Press Association: "Paramedics declared the woman dead on the scene and police proceeded with their investigation. The woman sustained wounds to her head and the upper body."
Pistorius, 26, was the first double amputee to run in the Olympics. He is known as the Blade Runner because of the ground-breaking prosthetics he uses for racing.
He made history at the London 2012 Olympics when he became the first amputee sprinter to compete in the able-bodied Games, running in the 400m and 4x400m relay.
The Johannesburg-born athlete, who was born without fibulas in his legs and had the limbs amputated below the knee when he was 11 months old, had to win 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.
