Austin Michael Salyer, 20, was killed on September 16, 2021 in San Marcos, Texas, when a bullet fired by a neighbor passed through a shared wall into his bedroom. Austin, a junior at Texas State University studying criminal justice and military science, was asleep when the round went through both lungs and lodged in his right arm; he managed to crawl across the room but died of his injuries.

The shooter, 24-year-old neighbor Gabriel Brown, said the discharge was accidental and that he was attempting to modify his gun while on the phone with his father. Brown turned himself in; he was later indicted, pleaded guilty to criminally negligent homicide, and was sentenced to 180 days in jail, a sentence later reduced to 90 days. Austin’s parents, Rodney and Bonnie Salyer, have publicly expressed grief and frustration over the sentence.

The Salyer family has also filed a civil lawsuit against Gabriel Brown, his father Gregory Keith Brown, and Brown’s girlfriend Chantel Monique Veal, alleging negligence and gross negligence and seeking more than $1 million in damages. Does anyone have information about the events that night or about the people who lived in that building?