Watch: Real-life GTA-style heist in Italy as robbers blow up armoured van on highway

Gamers are counting down the days to GTA 6, expecting the usual mix of wild chases, robberies, and outsmarting the cops - all the stuff that feels unreal but weirdly believable when you’re playing.

But over the weekend, something straight out of a GTA mission played out in real life.

Videos doing the rounds online show a dramatic highway robbery in Italy that looks ripped from the game. Masked men. Fake police lights. An armoured van blown open on the road. Even shots fired as officers rushed in. It’s chaotic, shocking, and honestly hard to believe it actually happened.

A GTA-style ambush on an Italian highway

Eyewitness clips capture the moment a group of armed men shut down part of the SS 613 highway between Brindisi and Lecce in southern Italy. Reports say the gang used multiple cars, including an Alfa Romeo and other vehicles fitted with blue flashing lights, to pose as police or security. The idea was to trick the armoured van into stopping.

And it worked.

The attackers then blocked the road with a burning vehicle, turning the highway into a wall of fire and smoke. With traffic stuck and help slowed down, they placed an explosive on the back of the armoured van and set it off. The blast sent smoke and debris flying as people on the other side of the road filmed the scene in disbelief.

Footage shared by CGTN America shows the van shuddering from the explosion but staying largely in one piece, likely because of built-in safety features meant to limit damage.

Shots fired, then a fast escape

Once the explosion went off, police arrived and there was an exchange of gunfire. Several shots were fired, and at least one police vehicle was hit.

The robbers didn’t hang around. They sped off in powerful cars, and reports say they even hijacked a vehicle from a bystander as they made their escape. For now, they’re still on the run, and the video continues to spread online - with many people saying it looked less like real life and more like a scene straight out of a video game.

According to CNN and The New York Post, the only visible damage to officers was a bullet hole in the windshield of one police car, and so far no fatalities have been reported among law‑enforcement personnel or civilians. At least one officer had to be treated for injuries, but the incident could have ended far more tragically, commentators and police officials have stressed.

The gang reportedly fled in high‑powered cars, hijacking at least one vehicle from a bystander in their rush to escape, as reported by Italian defense sources and international outlets including CNN.