'There weren't any red flags:' Parents of NC State student who died by suicide remember him as happy, motivated

Two students at NC State died by suicide within 24 hours this week. One of them was Ben Salas, a 21-year-old on the riflery team who dreamed of one day competing in the Olympics.

Salas’s parents tell WRAL News they never saw any warning signs before their son’s death, and they’re working to honor his memory going forward.

Seven NC State students have now taken their own lives since the start of the academic year in August 2022.

The two most recent deaths came Wednesday night and then Thursday morning.

The parents of one of those students remember him as a happy and motivated young man.

“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.”

Tony Salas said his son Ben had many friends and was known for his laugh.

A lifelong athlete, Ben Salas was named MVP of the NC State Rifle team at the university’s 2023 Wolfie Awards ceremony on April 24.

Two days later, his body was found by Lake Raleigh on NC State’s centennial campus.

Ben Salas had died by suicide.

“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.”

Ben Salas’s parents said he had long term goals: with NC State disbanding its rifle team, he was in the process of transferring to West Virginia University to keep pursuing the sport, aiming to one day compete for Team USA in the Olympics.

His parents said Ben had access to significant mental health resources at NC State, including mandatory sessions with a rifle team psychiatrist.

They said their son’s death showed that serious mental health issues can hide in plain sight.

“We were heavily involved, I talked to my son every other day, I talked to him two hours before he took his own life when he said he was fine,” Tony Salas said. “We looked for clues, we asked pressing questions.”

Counselors were on NC State’s campus on Thursday and Friday to offer students support in the wake of the two suicides.

Salas’s parents said they weren’t aware of the uptick in student suicides this year until they lost Ben.

They’re not sure what the university should do to address it.

“There is something that is affecting these kids and making them feel like they have no other option, and that is the key, trying to figure that out,” Tony Salas said.

As they prepared to lay their son to rest, Ben Salas’s parents have already been planning ways to help his name live on.

“We want to figure out how to get involved, and maybe set up a foundation in Ben’s name,” Tony Salas said. “In an effort to combat these problems with suicide and mental health that we’re seeing.”