Oscar Pistorius trial: ex girlfriend says he fired shots from car in anger
- 9 years ago
Originally published on March 7, 2014
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Oscar Pistorius fired a gun through a car's sunroof in anger after an argument with a police officer, ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor said on the fifth day of the South African Olympic and Paralympic track star's trial for the premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
During her testimony in the High Court in Pretoria on Friday (March 8), Samantha Taylor said that she, Pistorius and Pistorius' friend Darren Fresco were stopped by police for speeding in Fresco's car.
When an officer noticed that Pistorius had left his gun on his seat, he cycled the gun, emptying its magazine onto the floor of the car and angering Pistorius, she said.
After the incident with police, Pistorius and Fresco appeared anxious and irritated and joked about shooting a traffic light, known as a robot in South Africa, to annoy police. Pistorius then fired his gun through the car's sunroof.
"Two minutes after, I saw Oscar take his gun and shoot out of the car roof. A very loud sound. They both laughed," she said.
Taylor's testimony comes two days after the court heard another witness tell how Pistorius accidentally fired a pistol under the table in a posh Johannesburg restaurant and then asked Fresco to take the blame.
The prosecution says Pistorius, now 27, deliberately shot model and reality TV star Steenkamp, then 29, after the pair had an argument and she locked herself in the toilet. Pistorius said he fired in self-defence after he mistook her for a home intruder who had entered through the bathroom window.
The Olympic and Paralympic track star was born without fibulae in both legs, which were amputated halfway between the knees and ankles when he was 11 months old. In 2003 he shattered his knee while playing rugby on prosthetic limbs and took up running while undergoing rehabilitation.
He reached the 2012 Olympic 400-metre semi-final
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Oscar Pistorius fired a gun through a car's sunroof in anger after an argument with a police officer, ex-girlfriend Samantha Taylor said on the fifth day of the South African Olympic and Paralympic track star's trial for the premeditated murder of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp.
During her testimony in the High Court in Pretoria on Friday (March 8), Samantha Taylor said that she, Pistorius and Pistorius' friend Darren Fresco were stopped by police for speeding in Fresco's car.
When an officer noticed that Pistorius had left his gun on his seat, he cycled the gun, emptying its magazine onto the floor of the car and angering Pistorius, she said.
After the incident with police, Pistorius and Fresco appeared anxious and irritated and joked about shooting a traffic light, known as a robot in South Africa, to annoy police. Pistorius then fired his gun through the car's sunroof.
"Two minutes after, I saw Oscar take his gun and shoot out of the car roof. A very loud sound. They both laughed," she said.
Taylor's testimony comes two days after the court heard another witness tell how Pistorius accidentally fired a pistol under the table in a posh Johannesburg restaurant and then asked Fresco to take the blame.
The prosecution says Pistorius, now 27, deliberately shot model and reality TV star Steenkamp, then 29, after the pair had an argument and she locked herself in the toilet. Pistorius said he fired in self-defence after he mistook her for a home intruder who had entered through the bathroom window.
The Olympic and Paralympic track star was born without fibulae in both legs, which were amputated halfway between the knees and ankles when he was 11 months old. In 2003 he shattered his knee while playing rugby on prosthetic limbs and took up running while undergoing rehabilitation.
He reached the 2012 Olympic 400-metre semi-final