Nov 23, 2020

Update: 2 dead after shooting at Nebraska Sonic Drive-In

Posted Nov 23, 2020 7:00 AM
Roberto Carlos Silva-photo Sarpy Co. Jail
Roberto Carlos Silva-photo Sarpy Co. Jail

BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) - Authorities arrested a 23-year-old man in an attack at a Nebraska fast food restaurant in which two people were shot and killed, two were wounded and officers responding to a report of a possible bomb inside a moving truck in the parking lot arrived to find the vehicle on fire.

Roberto Carlos Silva Jr., of Omaha, was booked into Sarpy County jail early Sunday on suspicion of first-degree murder and first-degree arson in Saturday night's attack at a Sonic Drive-in restaurant in Bellevue. Silva was being held without bond Sunday before making his initial court appearance.

The investigation late Saturday at the Sonic -photo  by Alex McLoon courtesy WOWT TV
The investigation late Saturday at the Sonic -photo  by Alex McLoon courtesy WOWT TV

In a news release early Sunday, Lt. Andy Jashinske said Bellevue police received a call at 9:23 p.m. Saturday about a possible bomb in a U-Haul truck parked outside of the restaurant in the Omaha suburb. A minute later, the call was updated to a possible shooting, he said.

Officers who arrived found the moving truck burning and four people who had been shot. Two were sent to the University of Nebraska Medical Center for treatment and the other two were declared dead at the scene, Jashinske said. The victims' names were withheld so that their families could be told first.

Video tweeted by Omaha TV station KETV showed crews battling the truck fire late Saturday. The Omaha Police Department's bomb squad was at the scene early Sunday to check on a "device," as a precaution to make sure the area was safe, Jashinske said.

The attack came days after Silva was arrested outside of the restaurant after allegedly using someone else's Sonic app account to buy a total of $57 worth of hamburgers and corn dogs in four separate purchases at that location, the World-Herald reported. Silva was released from jail on Thursday after posting 10% of his $1,500 bail. At the time of that arrest, police seized three firearms from Silva, Jashinske said Sunday.

Officials at Sonic's headquarters in Oklahoma didn't immediately respond to messages from The Associated Press on Sunday.

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BELLEVUE, Neb. (AP) - Two people died and two others were wounded in a shooting at a fast-food restaurant in Nebraska where police had been called to investigate a "possible bomb" inside a moving truck in the parking lot.

A suspect was taken into custody shortly after officers arrived at the Sonic Drive-In restaurant in Bellevue late Saturday night, Lt. Andy Jashinske said in a news release. Police did not identify the suspect.

Officers found four people with gunshot wounds after arriving at the restaurant, Jashinske said. Two were pronounced dead at the scene, and two others were taken to hospitals for treatment. None of the four were immediately identified.

Video obtained by news outlets showed a vehicle on fire in the parking lot of the Sonic Drive-In. Jashinske told reporters the fire may have been ignited by "some fireworks or some type of device," but investigators were still looking in to the cause.