Nebraska man arrested for allegedly shooting 4 people, killing 2, at a Sonic Drive-In restaurant, police say

The aftermath of a deadly late Saturday night shooting at a Sonic restaurant in Bellevue, Neb.
The aftermath of a deadly late Saturday night shooting at a Sonic restaurant in Bellevue, Neb.
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

A man was arrested for allegedly shooting four people, killing two, late Saturday night at a Sonic Drive-In restaurant in Nebraska, authorities said Sunday.

Roberto Carlos Silva Jr., 23, was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and one count of first-degree arson. The Bellevue Police Department in a news release said Silva was booked into Sarpy County jail.

Police responded to reports of a possible bomb inside a moving truck in the parking lot of the fast-food restaurant on Saturday night in Bellevue near Omaha, according to Lt. Andy Jashinske. A minute later, the call was updated to a possible shooting.

Police identified those killed as Nathan Pastrana, 22, and Ryan Helbert, 28, both employees of the restaurant, were killed in the shooting, police said Sunday night. Two other two employees, Zoey Reece Atalig Lujan, 18, and Kenneth Gerner, 25, were hospitalized. A fifth Sonic employee suffered a minor injury but declined treatment at a hospital.

The motive of the shooting remained unknown on Sunday, authorities said.

Jashinske told reporters that fireworks or a "device" caused the U-Haul truck to catch fire, the Omaha World-Herald reported. The Omaha Police Bomb Squad were at the scene early Sunday to investigate the "device," he said.

A KETV station reporter shared a video on Twitter that showed a crew battling a truck fire late Saturday.

Silva was previously arrested on Wednesday for identity theft at the same restaurant. He allegedly used a Sonic app to order $57 worth of hamburgers and corn dogs, the World-Herald reported. Police seized three firearms from Silva when he was arrested. He was released from jail on Thursday after posting 10% of his $1,500 bail.

In a Sunday statement, Sonic said it was “stunned and saddened" by the shooting.

"Our heartfelt condolences go out to the franchise owner and the families and friends impacted by this horrific tragedy," the statement read.

Contributing: The Associated Press

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Nebraska Sonic Drive-In shooting: Man arrested, charged with murder