This is according to South African Judge Thokozile Masipa, while announcing a conviction that could result in a lengthy jail term for the double amputee runner on Friday, 12 September, 2014.
This latest report is coming a day after Pistorius was acquitted of a more serious charge of murder.
Pistorius and his late girlfriend, Steenkamp.
Speaking in court on Friday, Masipa said that Pistorius had acted “negligently” when firing four hollow point rounds into a locked toilet door in the early hours of Valentine’s Day 2013.
On the charge of murder, Masipa stated that: “the accused is found not guilty and is discharged, instead he is found guilty of culpable homicide.”
“A reasonable person,” Masipa continued, “would have foreseen that possibility that whoever was behind the door might be killed by the shots and would have taken steps to avoid the consequences and the accused in this matter failed to take those consequences.”
The “Blade Runner” stared straight ahead as the conviction was read, showing little emotion.
The judge is expected to sentence Pistorius a few weeks from now and with no mandatory sentence for culpable homicide, Masipa will have a great deal of discretion over the punishment.
Legal experts had earlier voiced surprise that Pistorius was found not guilty of murder, and predicted the case would likely not rest with the verdict.
Wits University criminal law professor James Grant said the state could appeal if they believe there has been an legal error.
“Everyone is a little surprised,” said lawyer Audrey Berndt, zeroing in Masipa’s finding that Pistorius could not have known that firing four hollow point bullets through the bathroom door would have killed someone.
She should have explained her reasoning a little more” said Berndt.
Masipa, whose career has taken her from a childhood in a poor Johannesburg township to the country’s high court, had described Pistorius as a “very poor witness” who was “evasive” when questioned.
Also, Pistorius was convicted of one of three gun charges brought against him.
According to Masipa, Pistorius was guilty of negligently handling a gun in restaurant, but acquitted him on two other firearm charges.
“He may not have intentionally pulled the trigger… that does not absolve him of the crime of negligently handling a firearm,” said Masipa.
Pistorius, who had remained emotionless the whole morning, started clenching his jaw during the ruling.
Masipa had however cleared Pistorius on charges of illegally possessing ammunition, which the sprinter said belonged to his father.
The trial, which has gripped South Africans and much of the world for half a year, has cast a harsh spotlight on the fallen hero’s private life.
During proceedings, Pistorius has broken down, weeping and at times vomiting as he heard how his law graduate and model girlfriend’s head “exploded” like a watermelon under the impact of his hollow-point bullets.
Oscar Leonard Carl Pistorius was born in 22 November 1986 and had both his legs amputated below the knee when he was only 11 months old.
Culpable homicide is a specific offence in various jurisdictions within the Commonwealth of Nations which involves the illegal killing of a person either with or without an intention to kill depending upon how a particular jurisdiction has defined the offence.
In South Africa, “Culpable homicide” is defined simply as “the unlawful negligent killing of a human being”.
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