Emilio Morenatti/Associated Press
Oscar Pistorius, the South African Olympic and Paralympic track star, in September.
JOHANNESBURG — Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius, who made sporting history by becoming the first double amputee sprinter to compete in the Olympics, was taken into police custody early on Thursday after he shot and killed a woman in his home in Pretoria, according to South African police officials.
Mr. Pistorius, 26, won two gold medals and a silver at last year’s Paralympic Games in London. In the 2012 Olympics, he reached the 400-meter semifinal and competed in the 4x400 meter relay. Known by the nickname Blade Runner, he races using carbon fiber prosthetic blades.
The Associated Press, citing the woman’s talent agent, said the victim was Reeva Steenkamp, a model.
Early Thursday morning, the police responded to a report of gunshots in the upscale housing complex where Mr. Pistorius lives, said Col. Katlego Mogale, a police spokeswoman. When they arrived, they found paramedics treating a 30-year-old woman for gunshot wounds. The woman was pronounced dead and a 26-year-old man was taken into custody, Colonel Mogale said. She declined to identify the man as Mr. Pistorius, but another police official confirmed that it was the runner.
Colonel Mogale said that the case is being investigated as a murder and that the suspect is expected to appear in court later Thursday. She would not comment on a possible motive for the shooting.
“A case of murder has been opened,” Colonel Mogale said. “Currently the investigators and the forensic people are on the scene.”
Reports from local media said that Mr. Pistorius told the police that the shooting was an accident and that he had mistaken the woman, who was said to be his girlfriend, for an intruder.
South Africa has one of the world’s highest rates of violent crime, and break-ins by armed robbers are relatively common. Legal handgun ownership is also common, with some restrictions.
Adele Kirsten of Gun-Free SA, an anti-gun violence organization, said that whatever the motive, the shooting was an avoidable tragedy.
“The idea that you have a gun to protect your family against intruders, the data doesn’t bear that out,” Ms. Kirsten said. “What it tells us is that having a gun in your home puts you and your family at risk of being shot.”
In the Paralympics last September, Mr. Pistorius won individual gold, when he successfully defended his Paralympic 400 meter title. He had lost his 100- and 200-meter titles, but was part of the gold medal-winning 4x100 meter relay team. He came second in the 200 meter race.
After that contest, Mr. Pistorius damaged his reputation among his followers by criticizing the winner, Alan Oliveira of Brazil, raising questions about the length of the winner’s blades. Mr. Pistorius later apologized and praised the gold medalist in the 100 meter race, Jonnie Peacock of Britain.
Mr. Pistorius, who was born without fibulas, had both legs amputated below the knee before his first birthday and he battled for many years to compete against able-bodied athletes. In 2008, he qualified for the Beijing Games but was ruled ineligible by track’s world governing body because his blades were deemed to give him a competitive advantage.
South African journalists said Mr. Pistorius lived in a walled complex near the South African capital, Pretoria. A reporter outside the compound on Thursday said it was protected by high walls and razor wire.
In a statement, the International Paralympic Committee said it would not comment “until the official police process has concluded” but it offered “its deepest sympathy and condolences to all families involved in this case.”
Sarit Tomlinson, Ms. Steenkamp’s publicist, told Sky News that the couple had a "healthy, fabulous relationship.”
On her Twitter account, Ms. Steenkamp sent a message on Wednesday alluding to Valentine’s day on Feb. 14 and saying: “What do you have up your sleeve for your love tomorrow???”
She also mentioned a South African reality TV show and described herself as “SA Model, Cover Girl, Tropika Island of Treasure Celeb Contestant, Law Graduate, Child of God.”
Mr. Pistorius’s father, Henke Pistorius, told the South African Broadcasting Corporation: “I don’t know nothing. It will be extremely obnoxious and rude to speculate. I don’t know the facts. If anyone makes a statement, it will be Oscar. He’s sad at the moment.”
This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:
Correction: February 14, 2013
An earlier version of this article referred incorrectly in one reference to the sprinter at whose home a woman was fatally shot. He is Oscar Pistorius, not Pretorius.
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