If you watched the Olympics this past summer, you probably heard of Oscar Pistorius. He is the double amputee that was the first to compete in the Olympics. He ran track for South Africa. Last night at his home he shot and killed his model girlfriend. Oscar says that it was an accident and that when he shot her in the hand and head he thought she was a burglar. There have been reports that the two have had several huge fights over the past few months and police have arrested and charged Oscar with murder.
Oh, shit. I hate stories like this.
ReplyDeleteI have been reading a lot about So. Africa recently. Sad that it has become so violent towards women, in general. Definitely off our bucket list. Prayers for her family. RIP.
ReplyDeleteThey're calling it a Valentine's Day surprise gone horribly wrong. There are also conflicting reports that the neighbors heard some arguing so who knows. Sad way to start the day.
ReplyDeleteWhat a waste of two lives. So sad for both their families.
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ReplyDeleteMy jaw fell open this morning!
ReplyDeleteIt's funny how people (and our entertainment & media) usually force an 'angelic' view of disabled people on us, like they are a different species or something. It's so patronizing to assume they can't be jerks too.
i think this angelic view is actually just the media showing us physical obstacles the person has overcome- this man has fully developed cognitive and psychological abilities but is just missing a couple limbs- as compared to a developmentally disabled adult, who most certainly are usually very sweet and angelic. theres a huge difference. imho
DeleteI saw this article somewhere else and thought it was interesting:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.news24.com/MyNews24/Oscar-Pistorius-Hero-or-Hooligan-20111103
Domestic violence is not okay and this is not the only time it has led to tragedy. Rhianna, are you paying attention?
ReplyDeleteNope. She's too busy getting high and drunk.
DeleteMary Jane is her Valentine, evidently.
DeleteNot buying it either. Even if it really was an intruder, why would you shoot a person 4 times who wasn't attacking you. (4 times is what was reported on HLN).
ReplyDeleteTragic, both for her and for the millions of disabled who just lost their first Olympian role model.
good read @Laura.
ReplyDeleteThis is awful, how sad! I really admired him during the Olympics.
ReplyDelete@Laura, thx for the link. His back story certainly doesn't add any credibility to his intruder claim.
ReplyDeleteBtw, I used to serve a guy at my first waitressing job, who had CP with terrible symptoms. He flailed and could barely get out one sentence at a time. I was 21, and sheltered, and I was a bit afraid of him at first. Over a few months though, I started being able to decipher the hilarious DRY BITING WIT the guy had.
ReplyDeletePeople would sit & stare and feel sorry for him from across the bar, but he was over there cutting them in HALF with his bitchy remarks. Even when people understood him, they would often nod & smile like he was a toddler and couldn't help himself or whatever.
I understood completely why he was a drinker, watching that small sliver of what his social life was like. Nobody took him seriously at anything.
Libby I loved your story. My sister is almost finished her social work degree but has worked as an aide for a man with CP for almost 3 years now. His condition is very similiar to your customer. He doesn't always say much
DeleteBut when he does boy is he funny. We have grown very close to him over the years (we had an awesome, memorable day at the beach last year. Pushing the beach wheelchair through he sand was worth it) and I'm so glad I met him. Such an inspiring human being.
Iris Rainier Dart (author of "Beaches") wrote a great romance story about a guy with CP called "When I Fall in Love". I reread it ever so often because I love it so much.
DeleteI'll have to check that out. Thanks Syko.
DeleteHow sad.
ReplyDeleteAshlea, unfortunately the guy I knew eventually got arrested for flipping out one night & assaulting people in the bar, after I'd stopped working there. He got lost in his anger. And of course the drinking almost every night didn't help.
ReplyDeleteBut meeting him was a great lesson for me---that disabled people have the same feelings we all do, that they are just as capable of being jerks sometimes, that they have the same PROBLEMS we all do---only compounded by physical & societal limitations.
Thanks for reading tho. I am verbose, sorry all!
That's sad. Really sad but not uncommon for people with Cp. they have these fully functional minds, trapped in flawed bodies.
DeleteLib, dont apologize, i like your bose!!!!!
DeleteHand indicates self-defense wound, but I can't say what happened here. Disabled people who cannot walk can feel very vulnerable and helpless, and frighten easily. If my disabled relative had a gun, I'd be dead now if she woke up and heard my footsteps heading toward the bathroom in the middle of the night. It's possible he overreacted. Crime stories have been horrific in S.Africa lately (I read of one family's slaughter I wish I could unread.)
ReplyDeleteYou don't shoot an intruder four times once you recognize them so this is definitely fishy.
ReplyDeleteAs for the disabled, Steven Hawkings is reported to be a TOTAL 100% asshole, so there's that.
Fishy, yes i like that!!
DeleteI can understand the train of thought that a disabled person may be skittish or frighten easily. If his address/location is well known or publicized, I can see adding the celebrity stalker issue to the mix. In the worst case scenario, I can see needing a gun for protection, since I'm now a disabled, yet famous and possibly rich, person.
ReplyDeleteAll that being said, he shot her 4 times?! If anything, I'd shoot once then stop to see what happened. At that point, I'd probably recognize the 'intruder' as my girlfriend (or husband). I haven't read the stories yet on him, nor do I know any of the backstory. I didn't watch the Olympics either, so I don't have the hero worship going on.
I feel terrible for everyone involved. I wish, truly wish, that people in troubled relationships would just make an exit strategy and get out. I so wish it would stop coming to this.
Yeah and so the girlfriend had never gotten up to use the bathroom the whole time they together???
DeleteNow I need to read those articles and figure out if I'm just PMS'ing or not!
ReplyDelete@Libby - I took notes for a woman with CP when I was in college. It was so frustrating for her to not be able to be understood when she spoke. I understood her - it takes a bit of patience and effort but it isn't hard. I learned a lot at school being a notetaker for students who couldn't take their own notes for whatever reason (I also took notes for a guy that became a quadriplegic from a wrestling accident) than I probably learned in my classes that year.
ReplyDeleteI don't believe for a minute that this was self-defense. The guy sounds like a real ass to begin with.
Whoa Laura, thank you for sharing that article. He sounds like an asshole.
ReplyDeleteOh Ruby, don't take your love to town..,
ReplyDeleteOh my God, this is awful. :( After reading the above articles and info, I don't believe it was an accident, either. Shooting someone once, maybe, but twice with the second being the kill shot? No.
ReplyDeleteI am really disturbed by this story. I guess I probably did believe the media blitz this summer. I hoped he would win. I never really looked up any information about him and was not aware of the rumors. After reading that article, I'm very curious. I'm also curious about this other guy that was arrested and the number of shots fired. Sounds crazy. I can't imagine shooting an intruder 4 times. Most people shoot once or twice and, I don't know, turn on the lights. Also, saving ammunition for other intruders would be a concern.
ReplyDeleteAny idea about the legal system? How is corruption in South Africa?
Very disappointing - I'm sure he was a hero to a lot of people who have a similar disability. I did read somewhere this morning that South Africa has the 2nd highest murder rate in the WORLD (1st being either Columbia or Venezuela, can't remember - it's a bitch getting old).
ReplyDeleteI can see shooting 4X at someone - if it's dark and you can't see if you hit them or not, or you're just panicked. I don't know the details of how this happened.
SusanB - I think first highest is Honduras. I find Honduras fun and no worse than Baltimore or DC. Africa with their violence against women is more than I care to witness. I will not be spending any money there ever. I will go back again and again to Honduras though. It's lovely! Great food, great people, lush countryside.
DeleteA couple of points, Oscar s not a double amputee, but was born without fibula bones and 2012 wasn't his first Olympics, he had competeted in 2 previous Para Olympic Games - which are the Olympics!
ReplyDeleteI don't know what to think about this. I've met Oscar personally, and he is a great guy and such an excellent ambassador for track and field. I truly hope this was a tragic mistake. South Africa is wholly dangerous so a "shoot first, ask questions later" mentality isn't necessarily surprising, however nothing about what happened sits right with me and that makes me very sad :-(
and yet he still isn't as bad as Chris Brown, even tho he killed his girlfriend. Disgusting.
ReplyDeletePlease, this is alot of baloney. He got such a good shot that it hit right in her head? Usually criminal running or fighting, u get them in back or leg. But he gets perfect shot to head. Needs to be investigated. I call bullspit.
ReplyDeleteSpeaking of awesome people with cerebral palsy, everyone should be watching Zach Anner's travel show on Youtube. He's HILARIOUS.
ReplyDeleteCheck out the one where he auditions for a dance team in New Orleans. Comedy gold!
Zach "The sexiest of the palsies" Anner http://www.youtube.com/zachanner
I have never been in a situation where my life felt threatened (thank God) so I can only imagine how the person feels. I think of the cops who kill people (often unjustifiably, overreacting) and the absolute HAIL of bullets they shoot. Amadou Diallo was shot something like 50 times. Not to defend the shooters (or Oscar) but I wonder if the impulse is just shoot, shoot, shoot, until you realize what's happening? I don't know.
ReplyDeleteIf this makes it to court....
ReplyDeleteHe won't have a leg to stand on
:badoom-tschh: >_<
Someone should've told Oscar that Bullet for My Valentine is a band, not an instruction.
ReplyDelete@Libby, I agree completely. I know someone pretty famous for what most people believe is a disability. That person is not very nice at all.
ReplyDeleteGeez, what a sad Valentine's Day story!
Enty is stretching the truth a little here. Oscar never said it was an accident, it was some journalist that said it and NO ONE has been able to figure out where it came from as Oscar didn't speak to anyone and the police say they have NO IDEA where those rumors came from.
ReplyDelete@brandy, where did you read that someone else in addition to Oscar was arrested? Every news story I've read only mentions his arrest and that there were witnesses to the shooting.
hunter (6:59 AM) - It's like being verbally abused by a Speak & Spell.
ReplyDeleteIf someone is breaking into my house you better believe the only reason that I stop shooting is because I run out f ammo.
ReplyDeleteThe domestic reported was from a drunk party guest who he had asked to leave his home, and while kicking her out, a bar from the door fell on her. This girlfriend he shot, had only started dating him since November. I don't what the story is, and neither does the media as no statement has been released yet. But I want to believe it is nothing but a tragic accident. It was well documented he slept with a pistol next to his pillow and a machine gun within reach. Overkill one might think, but I don't know what it's like to live in a country like South Africa with very high armed robbery, car jacking and other violent crimes.
ReplyDeleteThis is dreadful, I was so impressed by his talent and skill during the Olympics. I had an amputee in my family and it changed his life so dramatically, it was wonderful to see a young man living his dream and not letting his handicap be a handicap.
ReplyDeleteI hope that it was an accident, but it doesn't look good. Either way a person is gone who can never be brought back and that is tragic and unfair.
Well I live in South Africa, I adore Oscar, and I’m devastated about this. I truly hope it was an accident, and I feel awful for his girlfriend and her family.
ReplyDeleteCrime is ridiculous here – every single day people are tortured, raped, slaughtered. We have the highest rape and 2nd highest murder rate in the world. Corruption is rife, poverty is just terrible. I live in an economically depressed area with its fair share of crime, but I won’t have guns in my home – I have bars on all the doors and windows and a burglar alarm. Despite this, just over a year ago my son was held up at gunpoint in our home on a Saturday afternoon (hubby and I were in Cape Town for the weekend). My son was severely traumatised by the robbery. The next time we had to spend a weekend in Cape Town for a wedding, both nights we were away people tried to break in. The police were great and looked in on him and checked on him until we could get home (CT is a 2-hour flight away from Joburg). If we had guns in the house, my son would definitely have shot at the intruders – and I can’t imagine what would’ve happened to him in jail. Men and women who are jailed overnight for traffic offences are often raped.
I weep for this country, I really do.
Kerrimoo, me too.
DeleteOh, Kerrimoo, that is awful!
ReplyDeleteA dear friend of mine was born and grew up in South Africa (her parents were missionaries), and she returned to the States when she was 20. She said it was a complete cultural chasm, to not be afraid to walk to the store or leave for a weekend trip.
And then there are people paying she-who-shall-not-be-named-in-Feb $5k for an "appearance" at a party.
Very sad.
This sounds like Phil Spector: "Oh yeah I shot her but...it was a mistake! Yeah! I thought she was an intruder even though she has a key and knows the alarm code! Yeah, that's it - an intruder who looks exactly like my girlfriend."
ReplyDeleteBeyond fishy.
Their neighbor, who was also one of her best friends, said that they had been fighting a lot and the cops had recently been called many times for domestic issues. I don't think it was a coincidence that the fighting escalated once her career began to take off.
ReplyDeleteGiven the latest info on the news this morning, that Reeva was behing the bathroom door when she was shot, I'm beginning to believe that Oscar killed her deliberately. The State are going for a charge of premeditated murder. So flipping sad, and so unnecessary. Oscar is a national hero here ... and all the advertising billboards featuring him are currently being taken down.
ReplyDelete