Oscar Pistorius on murder charge

[skatefan]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21455840

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-21455453


Oscar Pistorius has been arrested and charged with murdering his girlfriend, apparently mistaken for a burglar

Initial reports were that it was an accident but just announced that he will be in court today.

[skipaway]

What a shame and a tragedy for both.

Alledgedly killed Girlfriend

is under police custody Thursday after allegedly shooting and killing his girlfriend, who he may have mistaken for an intruder, according to the South African news agency News24. South Africa is one of the most dangerous nations in the world, and residents commonly carry firearms to protect themselves against frequent home invasions

[floskate]

BBC sport just tweeted that bail will be opposed as there were witnesses? Also reports stating that police have alluded to previous domestic disturbances. Wow this is shocking.

[morqet]

https://mobile.twitter.com/ewnreporter?p=s

Statement from South Afrinca police says they have reports of screaming and shouting earlier in teh evening & they were surprised to hear the reports about him mistaking her for an intruder. They will disclose their reasons for opposing bail this afternoon. This is horrible

[Aussie Willy]

I heard this on the radio tonight. Totally bizarre and unexpected.

[joeperryfan]

When I first read about this the headline only stated "Paralympic athlete" I immediately wondered if it was Pistorius but didn't even want to open it up...

[AYS]

[allezfred]

I may now have a concrete reason for disliking Pistorius. Something about him and the way his "sainthood" was propagated really grated.

[IceIceBaby]

I really wonder who started and why the rumors about his mistaking the girl for a burglar? Not police anyways. And the neighbors heard fighting.

[Jenny]

I really wonder who started and why the rumors about his mistaking the girl for a burglar? Not police anyways. And the neighbors heard fighting.

In a story I read earlier and now can't find, there was reference to the high crime rate in the area and how even in gated communities residents usually have firearms in the house, and how in one recent incident, a man shot his own daughter because he thought she was someone stealing his car.

I suspect that's the source of confusion, along with perhaps people hoping that it was an accident rather than murder, including:

South Africa’s Sports Confederation and Olympic committee released a statement on Thursday saying they had been “inundated” with requests for comment but were not in a position to give out any details of the shooting.

“SASCOC, like the rest of the public, knows no more than what is in the public domain, which is there has been an alleged fatal shooting on the basis of a mistaken identity and an apparent assumption of a burglary,” the South African Olympic committee said.

But a police spokesperson says otherwise:

Beukes also said there had been previous incidents and “allegations of a domestic nature” at the home of the Olympic star and double-amputee runner, who is one of South Africa’s and the world’s most famous sportsmen and made history at the London Games last year by being the first double-amputee runner to compete at the Olympics.

“I’m not going to elaborate on it but there have been incidents (at Pistorius’ home),” Beukes said.

(Quotes from an AP story)

[IceIceBaby]

I have read Pistorius is a big hero in Australia and maybe that's why they tried to make up all kinds of excuses.

[elka_sk8]

Unfortunately, media outlets are so intent on getting a "scoop" that they don't seem to fact check before reporting rumors. The surge in social media and 24 hr news outlets only contributes to this. Remember when the Newtown shooting happened, there were reports that the shooter's mother taught at the school, among other things.

[rayhaneh]

I have read Pistorius is a big hero in Australia and maybe that's why they tried to make up all kinds of excuses.

I guess you meant South Africa

[genevieve]

this is so shocking

[joeperryfan]

Unfortunately, media outlets are so intent on getting a "scoop" that they don't seem to fact check before reporting rumors. The surge in social media and 24 hr news outlets only contributes to this. Remember when the Newtown shooting happened, there were reports that the shooter's mother taught at the school, among other things.

You bet... I was just reading an article about this on a portuguese site it had such gems as "... the police charged him with homicide(translated from portuguese so I don't know what the actual accusation was) so the the hypothesis of accidental murder was discarded..." , erm, what exactly do they think would have been the charge had it been an accident? The degree or murder differs but t's still murder even if accidental...

"... the authorities denied bail for the athlete's release...", as far as I know this only happens after the first court appearance, what really happened was that the police plans to opposed his request for bail.

Evidently I don't know what happened, but the coverage of this case is absolute crap.

[Anita18]

Are the laws re: self-defense not as stringent in SA as they are in the US? Here, you have to prove you gave them the option to leave before you blow them away, either verbally or by barricading the doors or something (to show you know they're there and that they can leave without consequence. Once they enter your home, thrn all bets are off.

Shooting someone in the head before asking who they are (especially if they live with you!!!!) is especially rash and stupid. If it's dark and you can't see well, the head is a poor target anyway - you'd go for center mass. If she was shot in the head, he must have been looking at her well enough to recognize her.

I don't doubt that accidental shootings CAN happen in the "I thought it was an intruder!" way, but it's so, so stupid and preventable on both the perpetrator and the victim.

[reckless]

The laws regarding self-defense in the US are different from state-to-state. As we saw from the Trayvon Martin case, the Florida stand-your-ground law is pretty broad in terms of what is allowed to be considered self-defense.

[Skittl1321]

Unfortunate wording in this Nike ad: http://consumerist.com/2013/02/14/ni...ng-girlfriend/
"I am the bullet in the chamber"

[joeperryfan]

Shooting someone in the head before asking who they are (especially if they live with you!!!!) is especially rash and stupid. If it's dark and you can't see well, the head is a poor target anyway - you'd go for center mass. If she was shot in the head, he must have been looking at her well enough to recognize her.

I don't doubt that accidental shootings CAN happen in the "I thought it was an intruder!" way, but it's so, so stupid and preventable on both the perpetrator and the victim.

Yeah, but shooting someone in the arm only makes sense if a) you're a lousy shot or b) you're trying to stop them from using a weapon or c) you're doing it on purpose to disguise the scene , so shooting arm and then head is what people would do for stopping an intruder with a gun quickly, if you shoot them in the chest they could still shoot you back... at least that's what I've seen in movies.

I agree that it's preventable, but I also imagine that a person who can't walk without prosthetics would enter survival mode much faster than the average Joe and wouldn't even think before acting, of course we don't know enough details about this case but so far it's a feasible scenario. From the accounts I've read of house invasions in South Africa they are much more brutal than in the US, I don't think most people there would ask anything before acting.

Again, I'm not saying any of this happened, at this point nothing conclusive has been reported. Apparently the police isn't very willing to endorse the mistake scenario so that could be a clue...

[oleada]

With the mentions of previous domestic disturbances and her being shot 4 times, I have a harr time believing this is a case ot mistaken identity