Witness: Pistorius Mishandled Gun Weeks Before Shooting

Updated March 5, 2014 9:05 a.m. ET

Olympic and Paralympic track star Oscar Pistorius sits alone next to the dock at the high court in Pretoria, South Africa, during Wednesday’s lunch break in his trial for the premeditated murder of his model girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp in February last year. European Pressphoto Agency

PRETORIA, South Africa—South African sprinter Oscar Pistorius had mishandled a firearm weeks before he admitted to shooting his girlfriend through a closed bathroom door, a witness told a court here Wednesday.

Paralympic gold medalist Oscar Pistorius went on trial Monday for the murder of his girlfriend and model Reeva Steenkamp last year. WSJ’s Devon Maylie reports.

Interactive: The Night of the Killing

In January last year, just before Reeva Steenkamp’s death on Valentine’s Day morning, Mr. Pistorius nearly shot himself after handling a gun under a table at a Johannesburg restaurant, according to Kevin Lerena, a professional boxer. Mr. Lerena said another man had passed the gun loaded with one bullet to Mr. Pistorius and it had accidentally discharged.
The double-amputee Olympian, who was born without fibulas in both legs, then asked the friend who passed him the gun to take the blame, according to Mr. Lerena. He said the athlete added: “I don’t want any tension around me.”
Mr. Pistorius’ lawyer said the athlete didn’t know the gun was loaded when he was handed the weapon and angrily confronted the gun owner. His lawyer says the friend offered to take the rap, but Mr. Lerena disputed that version of events.
Mr. Lerena took the stand as the state’s fourth witness in its case against the athlete. Prosecutors formally charged Mr. Pistorius this week with the murder of Ms. Steenkamp, his 29-year old girlfriend, in the early hours of Valentine’s Day last year. The state also brought two counts of recklessly discharging a firearm on other occasions, including the incident witnessed by Mr. Lerena in January 2013.
Mr. Pistorius has pleaded not guilty to all charges.
He has admitted to firing four gunshots through a locked bathroom door, killing Ms. Steenkamp. But he says that he thought an intruder was inside and not his girlfriend.
Previous witnesses have described hearing “distressed” and “bloodcurdling” screams shortly before the sound of shots.
Mr. Pistorius’ lawyer says the screams of a woman witnesses said they heard could have been mistaken for Mr. Pistorius himself, who might have sounded like a woman when he shouted anxiously for help.
His lawyer, Barry Roux, also said what sounded like gunshots to the witnesses could have been the bang of a cricket bat as the athlete tried to free Ms. Steenkamp when he realized it was her in the bathroom.

Take a look back at Pistorius’s eventful career.

Write to Devon Maylie at devon.maylie@wsj.com

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