Two dead as gunman opens fire at Nebraska Sonic restaurant after firework-packed truck explodes in drive-thru
Michael Hansen
Published Sep 17, 2026
TWO people are dead after a gunman opened fire at a Sonic restaurant in Nebraska and a firework-packed truck exploded in a drive-thru.
Roberto Carlos Silva, 23, of Omaha, was booked into Sarpy County jail on suspicion of murder and arson in Saturday night’s attack at a Sonic Drive-in restaurant in Bellevue.
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The alleged shooter was nabbed when a bomb squad and a SWAT team rushed to the eatery as flames destroyed a U-haul vehicle on Saturday night.
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 had been released from jail on Thursday after posting just ten per cent of his $1,500 bail.
Bellevue police said in a press release that cops were initially alerted to a possible bomb inside a truck.
The U-haul truck was reported at 9.23pm as having wires and pipes sticking out of it at the Sonic drive-thru near Cornhusker Road.
Then, 911 callers reported a male suspect wearing a helmet opening fire at about 9.24pm local time on Saturday.
After emergency services rushed to the scene, officers took the suspected shooter into custody 'without incident' and four victims were then discovered with gunshot wounds.
Two people were found dead at the scene, the police said.
Two further victims are fighting for their lives after being taken in a critical condition to the University of Nebraska Medical Center.
Those killed "will be identified after the completion of appropriate family notifications", the force added.
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Sgt. Andy Jashinske with Bellevue PD said the bomb squad was at the scene as of 12.30am on Sunday, and checking for more potential devices after a blast ripped apart a U-Haul outside Sonic.
"There was a truck with some fireworks or some type of device," he said.
A witness told WOWT news in Nebraska he heard multiple 'popping' sounds.
He added: "It wasn't real loud - it was like pop, pop, pop."
While the man was inside Sonic, sitting at a table, he also saw a fire outside the restaurant window.
More than 20 law enforcement vehicles from multiple agencies, including a bomb squad, responded to the building, at 1307 Cornhusker Road.
According to initial unconfirmed local reports, at least two people - a man, 27, and 17-year-old girl - were thought to have been among those injured.
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Footage reportedly taken from the scene and posted on social media showed a huge fire burning outside the restaurant.
Reports suggested the blaze was a U-Haul rental truck filled with fireworks that had been set alight.
The suspect gunman's identification "will be released pending the proper booking procedure", said the cops.
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Police are not actively searching for anyone else in connection to the fatal shooting.
Six ambulances attended the scene, officials said, along with Nebraska State Patrol, Sarpy County Sheriff's Office, the Omaha Police Department's Crime Lab and Bomb Squad.
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Silva was being held without bond on Sunday before making his initial court appearance, says the Associated Press.
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