MORGANTOWN, West Virginia — Ben Salas, a member of the West Virginia rifle team who recently committed to the Mountaineers after transferring from NC State, has died.
Salas, 21, committed suicide. In an interview with WRAL News in North Carolina, Salas’ parents were of course shocked and never saw anything that would lead them to believe that he was suicidal: “I don’t know what we missed, if we missed anything at all, there weren’t any red flags, there weren’t any indicators that he was going down the decision path he was going,” Tony Salas said of his son, Ben. “Everything was so on track, he had big plans.”
“We’re just shocked,” Tony Salas told WRAL News. “We’re shocked, and we’re confused, and we’re devastated, and we’re forever changed.”
When Salas signed with the Mountaineers last month, West Virginia rifle coach Jon Hammond had the following to say about him: “We are really excited to add Ben to our team and welcome him to the Mountaineer family,” Hammond said. “We have watched him improve and work hard for three years and really take some steps forward this year with impressive results and qualifying as an individual for the NCAA Championship.”
Our thoughts are with the Salas family 💛💙#HailWV pic.twitter.com/zMSYG4bC7t
— WVU Rifle (@WVURifle) May 2, 2023
