Texas State community service award honors man shot, killed through a wall in 2021
Texas State's Austin Salyer Community Service Award
A Texas State student is being recognized for his community service work. The award honors a man who was shot through a wall and killed about three and a half years ago
SAN MARCOS, Texas - A Texas State student was recognized for his community service work.
The award honors a man who was shot through a wall and killed about three and a half years ago.
Who is Austin Salyer?
The backstory:
The river that flows through the Texas State University campus was one of Austin Salyer’s favorite things about the campus.
"He loved to go to the river. He loved to hang out with his friends at the river," Austin Salyer’s father, Rodney Salyer, said.
What flows now are memories, as everything stopped for the Salyers on September 16, 2021, when their son was killed.
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In this week's Crime Watch, the family of a Texas State student killed when a bullet came through the wall of his apartment has filed a civil lawsuit.
Salyer was lying in bed asleep when his neighbor, Gabriel Brown, claimed at around midnight he accidentally fired his gun while modifying it. Salyer was shot through the wall and died.
Salyer was a junior at Texas State University. He was studying criminal justice and military science, and he had just signed a contract with the army.
Austin Salyer Community Service Award
Dig deeper:
Last month, the Salyers family was back on campus.
"Going back to the campus that Austin loved, he was so excited to be there. He loved his time there, so there's a happy emotion with that, but then there's also the emptiness, the hole, the difficulty of him not being there," Rodney Salyer said.
The Salyers were on campus to continue to remember and honor him and present the Austin Salyer Community Service Award at the University Police Department Gala.
"I think Austin would really be happy and smile down upon us as we are able to allow his legacy to continue by presenting a student and helping another student," Bonnie Salyer said.
Family of Texas State student shot, killed through wall while sleeping files civil lawsuit
In September 2021, Texas State student Austin Salyer was shot through the wall while he was lying in bed. He died from his injuries.
This year’s recipient of the award was Julio Matta.
"I’m very honored that I received this award," Matta said.
Matta is in the Texas State ROTC program studying marketing and military science. He has served in the Army for more than 10 years and wants to eventually become an officer in the Army. The Salyers said it is his efforts though towards cleaning the river that stood out to them.
"Not only are you willing to put your life on the line with the military, but you're also willing to do simple things around your community and make the campus and your overall community a better place," Rodney Salyer said.
That is something the Salyers said their son always tried to do, following their advice of ‘do the right thing.'
"I’m going to try to live up to the values that he carries plus the ones that I already have on my own to honor the legacy of one of our own," Matta said.
The university has helped establish an endowment to help continue presenting this award with a scholarship each year.
The Source: Information from interviews conducted by FOX 7 Austin's Meredith Aldis