Posted at 7:31 a.m., Wednesday, July 18, 2007
Pan Am Games: U.S. rower robbed at gunpoint in Rio
Associated Press
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil — U.S. rower Jamie Schroeder was robbed at gunpoint at a Rio tourist site on Tuesday, but was not harmed.Schroeder and his parents were visiting the Santa Teresa shrine when a motor scooter pulled up and a man pointed a gun at him. He was told to give the man whatever he had, and then the robber took off on the vehicle.
The 25-year-old Schroeder, from Wilmette, Ill., and his parents finished lunch near the Lagoa course for the rowing competition before deciding to sightsee. He was not wearing any team clothing that would have identified him as an American.
The theft seems to have been an isolated incident.
"As we do before every major international trip, we emphasize the basic safety precautions of traveling," USOC spokesman Darryl Seibel said Wednesday. "Traveling in groups or at least with another person and having an awareness of their surroundings."
Schroeder will race Thursday in the men's quad sculls.
