Bus transporting journalists at Rio Games hit by gunfire, no serious injuries

A bus carrying journalists at the Rio Games was hit by what appeared to be gunfire on a highway between Olympic venues on Tuesday, witnesses said. No one was seriously injured.

The bus was making its way from the Games basketball venue to the main Olympic Park when, according to passengers, two shots were heard hitting the vehicle. Windows shattered and flying glass left three people with minor lacerations.

The driver kept going, but stopped the first police vehicle he saw. The officer waved the bus on, saying it must have only been a rock that hit the window.

But Sherryl Michaelson, a retired U.S. air force captain who is working for a basketball publication in Rio, says she knows the sound of gunfire.

"I would say from my experience that it was a small-calibre handgun that was shot at the bus from an angle because the sound was not that of a heavy rifle. The sound was smaller," Michaelson said.

Brazilian police were not immediately available for comment.

Violent street crime in Rio has left its mark on South America's first Olympic Games. On Saturday, a bullet hit the equestrian centre, missing journalists there by just a few feet.

That bullet was also suspected to have been fired by a gang member trying to shoot down a police blimp or drone, officials said.