On the evening of November 21, 2020, gunfire at a Sonic Drive-in in Bellevue, Nebraska, killed 28-year-old Ryan Helbert, a White male, and co-worker Nathan Pastrana, 22. Four employees were shot inside the restaurant; two others survived and were taken to a hospital. Police initially responded to reports of a possible bomb in a U-Haul parked and on fire in the lot, then reclassified the scene as an active shooter incident.

Authorities arrested 23-year-old Roberto Carlos Silva Jr. near the scene without resistance. Investigators tied the attack to an alleged dispute days earlier, when Silva had been arrested for allegedly using another person’s Sonic app to fraudulently obtain more than $50 in food; he had been released from jail shortly before returning and carrying out the shooting. Silva was charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder, and arson. Helbert’s parents, sisters, and many friends remembered him as positive and easygoing.

If anyone witnessed the events that night or knew Ryan Helbert and can share memories or information, please contribute what is known.