AUSTIN, Texas—A first-year University of Texas dance student whose body was found near the heart of campus was the victim of a “horrifying and incomprehensible” killing that was the first on school grounds since the bell tower mass shooting nearly 50 years ago, university officials said Thursday.
UT President Greg Fenves identified the victim as 18-year-old Haruka Weiser of Portland, Oregon, during a somber news conference, and said the “unthinkable brutality against Haruka is an attack on our entire family.” Students who spoke later in the day at a vigil that drew hundreds of people on the Austin campus said the killing will leave them unsettled during their nightly walks home.
Weiser was last seen around 9:30 p.m. Sunday leaving UT’s drama building. “She never made it to her dormitory that night,” Assistant Austin Police Chief Troy Gay said.
Her roommates reported her missing shortly before noon the following day, and Weiser’s body was discovered Tuesday in a creek near the alumni center and football stadium, an area bustling with activity day and night.
