Bloomberg News
Paralympian Oscar Pistorius, who is on trial for the murder of his girlfriend, asked a friend to take the blame after firing a gun in a restaurant, a witness told the High Court in Pretoria, South Africa's capital.
Kevin Lerena said in testimony today that everyone in the Johannesburg restaurant went silent after the shot. Management spoke to the group of people at the table about the incident and they left, he said. The cruiser-weight boxer, undefeated in nine fights according to the Boxrec website, suffered a slight graze on his toe from the bullet that was fired into the floor, Lerena said.
'A shot went off and I do remember Oscar apologizing,' Lerena said, adding that the gun had been passed from person to person under the table. ''Just say it was you,' Oscar said.'
Double-amputee Pistorius, 27, pleaded not guilty on March 3 in the court to planning to shoot model Reeva Steenkamp at his home in the city on Valentine's Day last year. His lawyer, Barry Roux, argued that it was a case of accidental death. Lerena's testimony related to a separate charge of firing a gun in a public place.
One of the people in the group said 'I'm one up,' meaning there was a bullet in the chamber, when he passed the gun to Pistorius, Lerena said. Pistorius asked that person to take the blame, he said.
Pistorius wasn't aware that the gun was loaded as he had not heard the person say 'one up,' and he was shocked by what happened, Roux told the court. Lerena agreed Pistorius was shocked by the incident.
Known as the Blade Runner because of his J-shaped prosthetic running blades, Pistorius has admitted to shooting Steenkamp three times while she was in his bathroom, believing she was an intruder. He has won six Paralympic gold medals and was the first double amputee to compete at the Olympics Games in London in 2012.
To contact the reporter on this story: Paul Burkhardt in Johannesburg at pburkhardt@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Gordon Bell at gbell16@bloomberg.net
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