A stray bullet fired into a media tent at the equestrian venue and a controlled explosion near the finish line of the road cycling threatened to overshadow the opening day of action at the 2016 Olympics. 
 
 Rio Olympics 2016: men's road race heads for conclusion on day one – live! Read more 
 
 Even as organisers scrambled to investigate both issues, they were also having to promise to redouble efforts to shift unsold tickets and improve long queueing times amid angry complaints from those who had not been able to enter venues in time to watch the action. 
 
 While there was an upbeat mood in the city and organisers were pleased with the reaction to Friday’s opening ceremony, empty seats in many venues and long queues to get into others soon caused frustration and delays. 
 
 The most dramatic incident of the day came as eyewitnesses reported a bullet from a 5.56mm assault rifle pierced the roof of the media tent and fell to the floor near a Team GB press officer and a British photographer working for the British Equestrian Foundation. 
 
 The venue is next door to a media base and there was speculation that it may have accidentally been fired from there. A Rio 2016 spokesman said: “We are aware of the incident and monitoring the investigation by the security forces. No one was hurt.” 
 
 At Copacabana, as crowds gathered to watch the denouement to the men’s cycling road race, there was a brief commotion when bomb control officers arrived suddenly to detonate a suspect package about 150 yards from the finish line. “The security services found a suspicious package … and as a precaution decided to perform a controlled explosion,” said a Rio 2016 spokesman. 
 
 Officials said there was no impact on the race, which was at that point only halfway through. The suspect package was believed to be a small bag. 
 
 On the morning after the opening ceremony the night before, largely well received by the Brazilian media and public, organisers hoped to maintain the momentum. But huge swaths of empty seats visible in the gymnastics, boxing, handball, rugby sevens and hockey arenas as the action got under way detracted from the picture postcard backdrops on show elsewhere. 
 
 On Copacabana, fans faced huge queues to enter the beach volleyball arena while others waited in line to buy tickets. Meanwhile the action started in front of largely empty stands, although they were much fuller later with Brazilian athletes in action. 
 
 While some queues were good-natured, at others fans became angry at having to endure lengthy security queues. “I don’t believe it. It’s absurd, ridiculous,” said Natalia Carvalho, 28, a Rio resident who had wanted to see Brazilian gymnast and medal hopeful Arthur Zanetti compete. 
 
 Games organisers blamed the situation on a lack of coordination between various groups of security personnel, including the police, Games staff and private security firms. The Rio 2016 director of communications blamed it on the fact “the systems did not talk to each other”. 
 
 In a later statement, organisers said: “We apologise to any spectators who have had to queue on the first day of competition. We are fully aware of the problem and frustration it causes. We requested that the relevant authorities increase the speed and effectiveness that people can enter the park by requesting more employees to work on the x-ray machines. 
 
 “Following improvements the lines returned to normal by mid-morning. We appreciate the patience and understanding shown by fans and will use this experience to improve for the forthcoming days of competition.” 
 
 The Deodoro Stadium in the north of the city was almost entirely empty at 11am when rugby returned to the Olympics, except for a few small bands of travelling fans cowering in the shade. But it filled up a little before Brazil’s match against Great Britain, as a few hundred home fans turned out to cheer their team. 
 
 Greg Van Avermaet grabs gold amid the carnage in Rio 2016 road race Read more 
 
 At the morning swimming heats at the Aquatics Centre on the Olympic Park in Barra, about 20km from central Rio, the stands were roughly a third full. Venues started to fill up as the day went on and in previous Games, notably in Beijing, there have been empty seats in the first few days and stands have become fuller as the fortnight has gone on. 
 
 But there remains substantial scepticism over the official figure of 80%, or 4.9m, tickets having been sold. As revealed by the Guardian earlier this week, organisers outlined plans to give away ticket to schoolchildren. The first tranche will involve around 240,000 tickets at less popular sports such as rugby sevens and golf. 
 
 “As we have already reached 100% of our revenue target, where we have places available for some sessions, we will give the opportunity to students of our education programme, Transforma, volunteers, and other partner projects, as part of our engagement effort,” said a spokesman. 
 
 “We are conducting the first Olympic Games in South America and we want to take this opportunity to bring the sports and the athletes closer to the warmth of the young Brazilians.” 
 
 Organisers have also accelerated their advertising campaign to sell tickets for less popular sports under the slogan “There is emotion in every place”. 
 
 A spokesman said that there was a daily acceleration in sales and that they were relying on the fact Brazilians traditionally bought tickets at the last minute. 
 
 However, the website shows that tickets remain available not only for the football and less popular sports but for some of the blue riband events on the track and in the pool. ||||| Rio De Janeiro: A stray bullet, believed to have been fired from a Brazilian military rifle, has narrowly missed photographers during the first day of Olympic competition at the Equestrian Centre in Rio De Janeiro. 
 
 Olympic organisers and the military are trying to work out where the bullet, which pierced the plastic roof of the media centre canvas and landed within metres of photographers, came from. 
 
 British freelance photographer Jon Stroud, who was sitting closest to where the bullet landed, expanded on the frightening ordeal which shocked the entire media centre located next to the Brazilian military base in Deodoro. 
 
 "It was general disbelief," Stroud said. 
 
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 Link The bullet which landed inside the media centre at the Olympic Equestrian Centre. Photo: Rob Carr 
 
 "You have to take a while to process that feeling. It's fortunate it's come through in a corner in a clear area. But a few feet in any direction you start getting into tables and computers and journalists and photographers." 
 
 There were close to 100 working media in the press centre at the time. 
 
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 The Equestrian Centre is heavily guarded by police and armed military, most standing with rifle in hand as they protect the streets of Rio. 
 
 "We were in here in the lunch break, which is the busiest time in the press room ​and just heard a really loud bang right behind us," Stroud said. 
 
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 Link The bullet pierced the roof of the media centre at Rio's equestrian centre. Photo: Getty Images 
 
 "We just thought it was something falling off the ceiling, a light or something like that. We went over and took a look, lying on the ground over there was a bullet. A stray round. We were pretty shocked at the time. 
 
 "A member of the photo team here took the bullet away. There was a lot of discussion on radios and a little while later we saw them just outside the door there with military, passing the bullet back and forth and trying to establish where it might have come from." 
 
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 Link A member of the Brazilian National Force holds a bullet inside the equestrian media centre. Photo: Getty Images 
 
 Despite being so close to the military base, Stroud said he was flabbergasted anyone was allowed to fire a shot with thousands of people flocking to many of the Olympic venues through the rough streets of Deodoro. 
 
 "If anything I feel a bit amazed that during an Olympic competition, albeit the fact we're on a military site, that there could be any kind of sanctioned live fire within range of any kind of where we all are," Stroud said. 
 
 "I can't begin to imagine who thought that was a good thing." 
 
 Commotion as bullet pierces the #Rio2016 #Olympics equestrian press office and clatters to floor of the packed room https://t.co/ti2zhYQ0oa — Alice Collins (@msAliceCollins) August 6, 2016 
 
 An investigation between police, military and Olympic organisers is taking place to determine where the bullet came from. 
 
 But a Rio Olympics spokesperson insists "100 per cent it has nothing to do with the Games." 
 
 "Authorities are investigating but the bullet, the distance, where it comes from, why it comes here, the first information that we have got is that they can already determine that this area was not a target," he said. 
 
 "It was a stray bullet. They can also confirm it has nothing to do with the Games, but they cannot be more precise at the moment. All investigations are being carried out with army, technical experts, local police. 
 
 "We don't have any information if they were doing firing exercises so we don't have any information if they are going to continue to do them. 
 
 "They have assured us they have re-enforced security around this area." ||||| SYDNEY (AP) — After two members of the Australian Paralympic sailing squad were robbed at gunpoint, Australia's Olympic team leader is urging Brazilian authorities to implement Olympic-scale security now in Rio de Janeiro "before an athlete gets hurt." 
 
 The weekend incident in Rio highlighted fears of crime against foreign athletes ahead of the Aug. 5-21 Summer Games. 
 
 An estimated 85,000 police and soldiers will be patrolling the streets during the Olympics and Paralympics, but violent crime remains a fact of life in Rio. 
 
 "Maybe the organizing committee should mobilize their games-time defense force early," Kitty Chiller, Australia's Olympic team leader, said Tuesday. "Do it now." 
 
 Chiller said she'd written to the head of the Rio organizing committee and to the city's mayor, Eduardo Paes, to express concerns. 
 
 "We're demanding that the level of those (security) forces be reviewed, and also that they be mobilized earlier." 
 
 A statement from Australian Sailing said Paralympic sailor Liesl Tesch and team official Sarah Ross were confronted by two men while riding their bicycles in Rio park on Sunday. One of the men was carrying a pistol and the women were robbed of their bicycles. 
 
 Last month, Spain's Olympic gold-medal winning sailor Fernando Echavarri and two companions said they were held up at gunpoint by five young men in Rio. 
 
 The weekend incident "was extremely concerning and disturbing," Chiller said. "It's not an isolated incident. 
 
 Tesch raced at the Paralympic sailing venue Monday, and was quoted as saying of the robbery: "We are both shaken, but physically we're both OK." 
 
 Brazilian police are investigating. 
 
 Security is near the top of a long list of problems plaguing Rio ahead of the Olympics, including the Zika virus, water pollution, slow ticket sales and budget cuts. 
 
 "This is not an isolated incident, athletes have been mugged while training or competing in Rio test events and we want our athletes protected," Chiller said. "We have briefed our athletes leading into the Games. Basically we are saying that if you are confronted by criminals, comply, handover your belongings and don't argue. That is exactly what the two Paralympians did on Sunday." 
 
 She said the Paralympic sailors were confronted by men at 7:30 a.m. near their accommodation. 
 
 "There were people around but no-one came to their assistance. This is a major concern and the only answer is for the authorities to put extra police and security on the ground now," Chiller said. "We are taking over 400 young athletes to the games, we need to ensure they are protected at all costs." 
 
 Australian team leaders have already barred athletes and officials from visiting shantytowns and slums in Rio, and are considering team curfews and other no-go zones. 
 
 "The local mayor was very upset with me when we announced that the favelas were off limits to members of our team," Chiller said. "This was not a slur on his city, which is a beautiful and vibrant city. It is a simple security precaution." ||||| Officials stand near the body of a man that was shot and killed near Maracana Stadium. (Photo: Mark Humphrey, AP) 
 
 RIO DE JANEIRO — Rio police say a man was shot dead near Maracana Stadium after Friday's Olympic opening ceremony. 
 
 According to Rio's Civil Police Department, a 22-year-old Brazilian named Ronaldo Marques de Souza was assaulting people in the crowd as the 53,000 attendees were being let out of the stadium. An officer from an unidentified agency who was assisting with Olympic security responded and shot the man, according to a statement. 
 
 Brazilian officials have pulled in police from around the country to conduct security around the Games, a total of 85,000 law enforcement officials. The statement from Rio police said the officer came from another state in Brazil, but did not specify which one. 
 
 Associated Press photographers gave a different account of the shooting. They reported hearing multiple, loud gun shots, forcing Games volunteers and others leaving the ceremony to duck for cover behind cars. The photographers said they then saw a shooter running from the scene and fleeing in a car close to a university parking lot. 
 
 After police and medics arrived on the scene, paramedics were seen treating the victim as blood poured from his body onto the road. 
 
 Rio police says it is continuing its investigation. 
 
 This is the second shooting death in the Olympic city this week, and that one has varying descriptions as well. Brazil police originally said a Russian diplomat fought off a would-be robber, whose gun went off. The alleged assailant was killed. The Russian embassy, though, said no Russian official was involved.
– It's been an eventful first two days for the Rio Olympics, but probably not in the way organizers were hoping. Brazilian police say an officer shot and killed a 22-year-old man who was attacking people as they left Maracana stadium Friday following the opening ceremony, USA Today reports. According to AFP, the man was mugging people. But reporters at the scene say it happened completely differently. They say people ducked for cover when gunshots rang out as thousands of people left the stadium. They then saw the shooter running into a nearby car and driving off. On Saturday, the Brazilian military executed a controlled explosion near the finish line of the men's road cycling race. They were blowing up a suspicious bag that had been left unattended, the Guardian reports. Officials say the bag may have belonged to a homeless man, but they had to take precautions. The racers were 60 miles away at the time, but the explosion "stunned" people hoping to watch the end of the race, according to AFP. The Sydney Morning Herald reports a bullet came ripping through the media room at the Deodora equestrian center and landed near a photographer Saturday. No one was hurt, but the bullet left a hole in the tent's roof. The venue is near a military base, and it's possible the bullet was accidentally fired toward the venue by someone on the base.