Sonic Drive-In shooting suspect arrested, charged with 1st-degree murder

ByJON HAWORTH ABCNews logo
Sunday, November 22, 2020

A suspect is under arrest and charged in connection with a shooting at a Sonic Drive-In late Saturday evening that killed two people and left two others hospitalized, according to police.

At approximately 9:23 p.m. police in Bellevue, Nebraska, received a call about reports of a possible bomb inside a moving truck in the parking lot of a Sonic Drive-In, according to local authorities.

In a statement released by the Bellevue Police Department, numerous officers immediately responded to the scene of the incident, which was then updated at 9:24 p.m. to a shooting, with the first officers arriving only two minutes later at 9:26 p.m. to discover four victims with gunshot wounds.

"Two victims were transported to the University of Nebraska Medical Center," the Bellevue Police Department said in its statement. "Two additional victims were determined to be deceased on the scene. The victims will be identified after the completion of appropriate family notifications."

On Sunday evening, police released the names of the shooting victims, all who were employees of Sonic: Nathan Pastrana, 22, and Ryan Helbert, 28, both died at the scene. Kenneth Gerner, 25, and Zoey Reece Atalig Lujan, 18, were injured.

Roberto Carlos Silva Jr., 23, was taken into custody shortly after police arrived on scene, according to authorities. He was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of arson, the police said Sunday.

At a press conference late Sunday, police showed bodycam video of Silva Jr. being arrested in the parking lot of the Bellevue restaurant. In one part of the video -- which was shown on a screen at the presser and is not being released beyond that -- one can see the U-Haul truck burning in the background.

Police did not release any details on why the U-Haul was on fire, only that they believe the truck was in fact brought there by the suspect..

Police did not give any updates on the condition of the two victims who were taken to hospital, and the motive behind the shooting is currently not known.

Authorities also said that there are no indications of any additional suspects involved in the shooting.

The investigation is ongoing.

ABC News' Ivan Pereira contributed to this report.

Copyright © 2024 ABC News Internet Ventures.

Related Topics