Crazy scene on an Italian highway Hooded men attack an armored car - then open fire

A life-threatening chase broke out in southern Italy after an attack on an armored car. Armed perpetrators opened fire on carabinieri on the Brindisi-Lecce highway - several officers narrowly escaped death.

Scenes on Monday morning that you would only expect to see in an action movie. On the 613 expressway, the link between Lecce and Brindisi, near Tuturano, an armored cash van is the target of a brutal attack. There is a firefight with the carabinieri - a bullet fired by the attackers hits the windshield of an escort vehicle.

The attacked van belongs to the BTV company from the Battistolli Group. The perpetrators were highly professional and used brute force, according to Italian media reports: They placed a van across the roadway and set it on fire to force the armored vehicle to stop.

Masked perpetrators, explosions and gunshots

Video footage taken by passing motorists shows the full extent of the escalation: at least six masked people, some in white overalls, all armed. The perpetrators blocked the road with vehicles and blew up the van. Despite the massive deployment, the actual robbery apparently did not take place.

In order to escape, the criminals are said to have robbed several passing motorists of their vehicles. Particularly explosive: the gang is said to have used cars with flashing blue lights that looked deceptively similar to civilian police vehicles - apparently to cause confusion and enable them to flee more quickly.

"I feared for my life."

A young student witnessed the scene first-hand. She was on her way to university. She told the newspaper "Il Mattino ": "A red van was parked across the road and on fire. I thought it was an accident," says the student. Seconds later, it became clear that it was no ordinary traffic accident.

"Immediately afterwards, I saw a man with a hood and another person with a gun firing a shot in the air," she continues. The perpetrators forced the woman to get out of the car and then drove off in their vehicle. She desperately tried to appeal to the robbers' conscience: "I told them that I had a young daughter with me. I feared for my life."

But the robbers did not let go of her car. "Another robber got out and started spreading nails on the asphalt," reports the young woman - apparently to secure the escape and stop pursuers. Finally, another driver who had witnessed the scene pulled over and took the completely distraught student in his car.

Miraculously, no one was killed

The carabinieri quickly took up the chase. The perpetrators opened fire immediately afterwards. A bullet pierced the interior of the police car from the driver's side to the passenger side - and only just grazed the two officers. Italian newspapers report that it is a miracle that no one was killed. Investigators assume that at least one of the getaway vehicles had previously been stolen from the police.

Less than an hour after the attack, the carabinieri of the Lecce provincial command arrested three suspects. The investigation is in full swing and further arrests are likely.