Reporter disputes Rio security claims that rocks, not bullets were to blame for bus attack
Security chief insists rocks, not bullets, broke windows and injured journalists
The projectiles that struck a bus carrying journalists through Rio de Janeiro last night were stones, not bullets, according to the security chief for the Olympic Games — but reporters who were on board seem less than convinced.
Games security chief Luiz Fernando Correa said Wednesday the bus windows that shattered Tuesday night — slightly injuring two of the 12 people who were on board — were not hit by gunfire.
"First findings of the forensic study confirm that the bus was hit by a rock, which is also worrying and terrible," Correa said at a news conference.
Brazil has some Olympic-quality rock throwers.— Lee Michaelson, retired U.S. Air Force captain
But witnesses said at the time they heard shots. One of them, a retired U.S. Air Force captain who now writes about women's basketball, was on the bus as it went through the Rio suburb of Barra da Tijuca.
"I know what a gun sounds like," Lee Michaelson told Britain's Press Association at the time.
"It was the sound, before I ever saw the glass [shatter] or anything."
Another journalist said he heard "a popping sound" before something hit the windows.
The holes "looked like bullet holes," said photographer David Davies.
Michaelson seemed skeptical during Wednesday's news conference.
"Assuming for the moment that Brazil has some Olympic-quality rock throwers — to have been able to hit not one but two windows, that quickly, at upper-body height on a moving bus, moving that quickly down the road, we'll give it to you for the moment — what I'd like to know is about the things that can be prevented," she said to Correa.
Why, she asked, did the driver stop the bus, rather than drive to a secure location? Why were the interior overhead lights left on during the trip? And why was there no first-aid kit on board?
Michaelson had said earlier there was no medical help waiting when the bus returned to Olympic Park, despite some passengers being injured and bleeding.
Police escort
The Rio organizing committee said earlier the driver heard a noise from inside the bus, which he thought was photography equipment falling down.
When he checked his rear-view mirror, he found the journalists were lying on the ground. He stopped when he saw a police car.
"At this time, he realized that two windows on the same side of the bus were broken," the committee said in a statement. "He resumed the route under the escort of the police car and the broken windows began to give way further."
The incident raises more concerns about security at the Games.
On Saturday, a stray bullet flew through the roof of a media tent at the Olympic equestrian centre. Officials said it had been fired from a hillside favela but said the Games had not been targeted. Organizers said the intended target was probably a security camera on a blimp.
Rio is deploying about 85,000 soldiers and police to secure the Games, twice as many as London did four years ago.
With files from Reuters and CBC News