South African Paralympic Star shoots girlfriend after she tries to pull up a Valentine surprise

South African  Paralympic Star Oscar Pistorius’s model girlfriend may have been shot dead after a Valentine's Day surprise went wrong, it has emerged.

According to local media reports Reeva Steenkamp, 30, was mistaken for an intruder at Pistorius's home in Pretoria.

Pistorius was today being questioned by police over the shooting.

A police spokeswoman 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."

The Beeld newspaper named his girlfriend as model Reeva Steenkamp, 30, and said Pistorius was expected to appear in court later today.

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."

Mogale said police were called following a shooting at a townhouse complex in the Silverlakes district.

"When police arrived they found the paramedics attending to the woman. The paramedics declared the woman dead on the scene and police proceeded with their investigation of the scene," he said.

A 9mm pistol was recovered.

The woman's body has reportedly been removed from the scene.

The shooting happened at about 4am today.

Pistorius 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.