A MAN claiming to be a Russian diplomat shot dead a mugger who tried to rob him through a car window near the Olympic Athletes’ village, rattling competitors just a day out from the opening ceremony.

Police initially reported that the Vice Consul of the Russian consulate in Rio drew on his jiujitsu skills to wrestle the mugger’s gun from his hands and shoot the would-be robber dead at close range.

But Russian news agency Tass later said the man was not from the Russian consulate.

The Olympic torch relay had passed through the Avenida das Americas just before the mugger targeted the supposed diplomat’s car from the back of a motorbike - a common crime strategy in Rio.

media_camera Avenue of the Americas, close to where the shooting took place.

Brazilian authorities have flooded Rio streets with armed guards and extra police in a bid to keep crime in check while the world’s eyes are on the city, but theft has continued to flourish.

A spokesman from the Rio Olympics Organising Committee initially tried to downplay the shooting, saying he wasn’t clear on what it had to do with the games.

He later said the Committee was consulting authorities for a full picture of what happened and that Rio had 88,000 security personnel deployed.

The supposed diplomat was identified by local media as Marcos Cesar Feres Braga, a lawyer reportedly familiar with jujitsu who managed to take the mugger’s gun when the man stuck broke the window of his BMW and tried to rob him.

But Consul General of the Russian Federation in Rio de Janeiro, Vladimir Tokmakov told Tass local diplomats had “nothing to do with the incident”.

media_camera Armed police stand guard outside the Olympic Athletes’ Village.

But he added he could not “rule out” the man introduced himself as a diplomat.

Local media said Mr Braga was waiting in traffic when he shot the mugger - named as Leonardo Lopes Batista - dead at close range.

A second rider on the bike fled the scene, leaving the mugger dead in the street.

A statement from police said the vice consul was targeted by an “attempted assault”.

“The vice consul got into a physical struggle with the assailant and during the fight the aggressor’s weapon fired shots. The assailant died of his wounds on the spot,” the statement said.

Brazil’s Ministry of Justice last night said the shooting was still being investigated.

An accomplice fled after seeing his partner suddenly hauled inside the man’s car.

The incident happened at midday local time (1am EST) on the Avenue of the Americas, where the athletes’ village and Olympic Park is also located, and shortly after the Olympic torch had passed by.

The would-be robber’s body lay on the road for several hours as police underwent investigations.

media_camera There is heavy security around the Olympic torch.

The man had been travelling in his BMW with his wife and daughter.

In a statement, Rio’s 31st Military Police Battalion, which investigated the incident, said Braga acted quickly pulling the man inside the car before taking his revolver and shooting him.

“The vice consul got into a physical struggle with the assailant and during the fight the aggressor’s weapon fired shots. The assailant died of his wounds on the spot.”