Oscar Pistorius Takes the Stand to Describe the Moment He Shot Reeva Steenkamp

Oscar Pistorius has taken the stand in the murder trial of his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp to describe the moments of gunfire on Tuesday (April 8) in Pretoria, South Africa.

“That was the moment everything changed,” the 27-year-old athlete said in the first hand account of what happened (via NBC). “I thought that there was a burglar that was gaining entry to my home. Initially I just froze. The first thing that ran through my mind was that I needed to arm myself.”

“I was afraid … someone was going to start shooting,” he added. “I heard a noise from inside the toilet. Before I knew it, I’d fired four shots at the door. There was ringing in my ears.” He then added that it dawned on him that the person inside the bathroom could be Reeva. “I didn’t want to believe that it could be Reeva inside the toilet. I jumped out and ran my hand along the curtain to see that she wasn’t hiding behind the curtain.”

“I was screaming and shouting the whole time. I don’t think I’ve ever screamed liked that. I was crying out for the Lord to help me,” Oscar said.

Oscar took the stand the day before to tearfully apologize to Reeva‘s family.