SOUTH African Paralympic star Oscar Pistorius has been arrested after a woman was shot dead at his home.

According to local media reports the dead woman was the gold medal winner’s girlfriend, who was mistaken for an intruder at the property in the Silverwoods Country Estate in the capital Pretoria.

 There was speculation the shooting may have been a Valentine’s Day surprise gone wrong.

 A police spokeswoman declined to confirm the identity of the man in custody but 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 at about 4am 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.