Bellevue Sonic shooting suspect charged with attacking fellow inmate

Roberto Silva Jr. is facing more charges after a fellow inmate was attacked in the Sarpy County Jail.
Updated: May. 27, 2021 at 11:05 AM CDT
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PAPILLION, Neb. (WOWT) - The man charged in the fatal shooting at a Bellevue Sonic in November is facing additional charges after he allegedly attacked another inmate in the Sarpy County Jail.

Roberto Silva Jr., will be charged with 2nd-degree assault, a Class 2A felony, and use of deadly weapon to commit a crime, a Class 2 felony, after he reportedly attacked and stabbed another inmate on May 12, causing the victim to need one stitch on his right ear, among other injuries.

“He shanked me with something sharp, and flushed it down the toilet,” the victim said, according to the affidavit filed by Sarpy County Deputy Adam Arko.

According to the warrant, surveillance video showed the victim left his cell at 1:12 p.m., walked around downstairs, then returned to his room, at which point Silva is seen rushing from his cell to the victim’s room. Silva then closes the door, and nothing that happens in the room — for approximately three minutes — can be seen, the document states.

“Other inmates in Max-1 told me they heard screaming and someone yelling for help,” the deputy’s statement says. “The inmates also told me they heard sounds which sounded like somebody be choked.”

Papillion Fire Medics transported the victim to the Midlands Hospital emergency room for treatment. The Douglas County Crime Lab, in documenting the victim’s injuries, photographed a long cut to the victim’s neck, and red “superficial cuts and marks all over his upper chest and neck area.”

The victim said he did not want to press charges and was transported back to jail.

According to the warrant, Silva was asked whether he wanted to talk with authorities about the incident, but he made an expletive statement then walked away. Silva did not appear to have any injuries, the document states.

Authorities were unable to retrieve any sort of object from the toilet line, the warrant states.

Silva is facing nine charges in relation to the shooting: two counts of first-degree murder; two counts of attempted first-degree murder; four counts of using a firearm to commit a felony; and one count of first-degree arson. The shooting left Nathan Pastrana, 22, and Ryan Helbert, 28, dead. Two more victims, ages 18 and 25, were hospitalized for gunshot wounds.

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