By Nkepile Mabuse, CNN
updated 3:54 AM EST, Thu February 14, 2013
STORY HIGHLIGHTS
- The shooting occurs in the home of Oscar Pistorius
- South African police say man, 26, was taken into custody
- Pistorius is a double-amputee who ran with the aid of prosthetic limbs
Pretoria, South Africa (CNN) -- A 30-year-old woman was found fatally shot in the upscale Pretoria home belonging to South African Olympian Oscar Pistorius, police said Thursday.
Police said they have arrested a 26-year-old man -- the same age as Pistorius -- in connection with the shooting and that he will appear in Pretoria magistrate court sometime Thursday.
Pistorius, nicknamed the "Blade Runner," made history when he became the first Paralympian to compete in the able-bodied Olympics last year.
Several South African media outlets reported that the woman was mistaken for an intruder. Police Brig. Denise Beukes said she was aware of the reports, but could not confirm them.
A spokeswoman for the track star declined to comment.
A neighbor in the residential community alerted police to the shooting, Beukes said. When a CNN crew arrived, it saw a mortician's van leaving the house.
A pistol was recovered at the scene, police said.
Pistorius, a double-amputee, ran with the aid of prosthetic limbs during the London Olympics last year, the first Paralympian to compete in the able-bodied Olympics.
The runner's legs were amputated below the knee when he was a toddler because of a bone defect. He runs on special carbon fiber blades, hence the nickname.
While he failed to win a medal in the Olympics, his presence on the track was lauded as an example of victory over adversity and a lesson in dedication to a goal.
Pistorius was initially refused permission to compete against able-bodied competitors, but he hired a legal team to prove that his artificial limbs didn't give him an unfair advantage.
He smashed a Paralympic record to win the men's 400m T44 in the final athletics event of the 2012 Games.
The athlete was named one of People magazine's Sexiest Man Alive last year.
Woman found killed in home of 'blade runner' Pistorius
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Woman found killed in home of 'blade runner' Pistorius
