Oscar Pistorius arrives at court for bail hearing in murder case after girlfriend shot dead

b2e7dc39-APTOPIX South Africa Pistorius Shooting

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius leaves the Boschkop police station, east of Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013 en route to appear in court charged with murder. Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius was taken into custody and was expected to appear in court Thursday, after a 30-year-old woman who was believed to be his girlfriend was shot dead at his home in South Africa's capital, Pretoria. (AP Photo/Chris Collingridge) SOUTH AFRICA OUT (The Associated Press)

cd79a8ef-South Africa Pistorius Shooting

Olympic athlete Oscar Pistorius leaves the Boschkop police station, east of Pretoria, South Africa, Thursday, Feb. 14, 2013. Pistorius was taken into custody after a 30-year-old woman, Reeva Steenkamp, was shot dead at his home. (AP Photo) (The Associated Press)

PRETORIA, South Africa – Oscar Pistorius has arrived at a courthouse for his bail hearing in the murder case of his girlfriend as South Africans braced themselves for the latest development in a story that has stunned the country.

The Paralympic superstar was earlier seen leaving a police station in a dark suit with a charcoal gray jacket covering his head as he got into a police vehicle.

Dozens of photographers and TV camera operators crowded into Courtroom C at Pretoria Magistrate's Court, where proceedings were due to begin at 10 a.m. (0800 GMT). Pretoria chief magistrate Desmond Nair is to hear Pistorius' bail application.

Model Reeva Steenkamp was shot and killed at Pistorius' upmarket home in an eastern suburb of the South African capital in the predawn hours of Thursday.