Oscar Pistorius once boasted of
grabbing a loaded gun in the dead of night and running downstairs ready
to shoot an intruder, it has emerged.
American
writer Michael Sokolove has told The Mail on Sunday how he spent time
with the ‘Blade Runner’ in the run-up to the London 2012 Paralympics and
was shocked at his obsession with weapons.
Pistorius
bragged to him that on the previous night he had heard a noise, reached
for the handgun under his bed and gone downstairs ready to confront an
intruder before realising it was a false alarm.
Shocked: Michael Sokolove, pictured left, said
he was stunned at how obsessed Oscar Pistorius, pictured right in court,
was with his weapons when they met before the Paralympics last year
Insight: The American writer spent time with
South African athlete Oscar Pistorius, pictured winning gold in the
men's 400-meter T44 final at the 2012 Paralympics, in the run-up to the
sporting event last year
He then showed Sokolove the gun in a wooden box ‘almost like a jewellery case’.
Sokolove said: ‘Oscar liked this 9mm semi-automatic very much. The gun was important to him.
'He often felt vulnerable in his own
home, and knowing that it was on the floor beside his bed, fully loaded,
made him feel safer.
'I never suspected he would hurt someone else. He treated people with respect.’
The
athlete, 26, is charged with the premeditated killing of girlfriend
Reeva Steenkamp. He fired four shots through a locked toilet door at his
home in South Africa, but said he believed he was shooting a burglar.
Oscar Pistorius, pictured left with girlfriend
Reeva Steenkamp at an awards ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa,
last year, is accused of killing the model, pictured right, with a gun
Facing trial: Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius
stands in the dock during his bail hearing at the magistrate court in
Pretoria, South Africa
DAILYMAIL
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