Report: Video shows suspect pull out 'shiny rigid object,' follow Haruka Weiser on UT campus

In a photo provided by the Austin Police Department, an agent with the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and another law enforcement officer escort Meechaiel Khlalil Criner, 17, into Austin Police headquarters. Criner has been charged with murder in the killing of University of Texas student Haruka Weiser. less In a photo provided by the Austin Police Department, an agent with the U.S. Marshals Lone Star Fugitive Task Force and another law enforcement officer escort Meechaiel Khlalil Criner, 17, into Austin Police ... more Photo: Austin Police Department Photo: Austin Police Department Image 1 of / 44 Caption Close Report: Video shows suspect pull out 'shiny rigid object,' follow Haruka Weiser on UT campus 1 / 44 Back to Gallery

A 17-year-old homeless man accused of killing University of Texas at Austin student Haruka Weiser is shown on surveillance camera footage pulling out a "shiny rigid object" before following her off camera, according to a newly released court document obtained by mySA.com.

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Meechaiel Khlalil Criner was booked into the Travis County Jail on a charge of murder Friday. The body of Weiser, an 18-year-old first-year dance major from Portland, Oregon, was found in the Waller Creek area on Tuesday.

Surveillance footage from the College of Liberal Arts building on campus showed that Criner rode up on a red or pink women's bicycle and tried to open the doors of a van parked in the building's bay area, according to an arrest warrant signed by State District Court Judge Brenda Kennedy on Friday.

Just before 9:40 p.m., Criner saw Weiser, dressed entirely in black, pass by the location, according to the affidavit.

Criner "watched [Weiser], puts the kickstand down on the bike, reaches into the back of his pants with his left and pulled out what appeared to be a shiny rigid object," the affidavit said.

Criner then followed Weiser off camera, across the bridge and onto the sidewalk that extends behind the Etter-Harbin Alumni Center — which is just across the street from Darrell K Royal Stadium — and along the west bank of Waller Creek, where her body was discovered.

Criner is not seen again on the surveillance footage until 11:47 p.m., according to the affidavit. This portion of the footage, which was released to the public Thursday, shows Criner walking with a limp as if he had suffered some kind of injury to his left leg.

Criner is also seen carrying a small duffle bag that he was not seen carrying in prior footage.

"While searching the area they found the remains of a young female [Weiser] with obvious trauma to her body," the affidavit reads.

RELATED: Homeless 17-year-old arrested in death of University of Texas student Haruka Weiser

After police released a portion of the video footage, a captain for the Austin Fire Department called Austin homicide detectives and told them that firefighters had been dispatched to a fire call Monday morning that was in the same direction Criner was last seen walking toward.

Firefighters had been called to an abandoned building in the 2900 block of Medical Arts Street where they found a man later identified as Criner burning items.

Austin police had arrived on scene because Criner told them that he was 17 years old and homeless.

Officers confiscated a bicycle that matched the one seen in the surveillance footage released by Austin police, the affidavit said. They also seized what Criner said were his belongings, including several bags and a backpack.

An Austin investigator noticed that Criner matched the description of the man shown in the surveillance video and was wearing the same pants and shoes seen in the footage, according to the affidavit.

Police showed a photo of a small blue duffle bag to a friend of Weiser's, who confirmed it was the same one the 18-year-old dance freshman had when she left the dance building on Sunday.

An Austin homicide detective returned to the abandoned building where Criner set the fire and located what appeared to be several of Weiser's belongings including a shoe, a burned notebook with college-level course work inside and a black jacket identical to the one the suspect was wearing on the surveillance footage.

Austin police executed a search warrant on Criner's room at LifeWorks, an Austin nonprofit that offers counseling and housing for the homeless, according to the affidavit.

There, police found a MacBook laptop with a sticker on it that mentioned the city of Portland, Weiser's hometown, according to the affidavit.

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Criner is currently being held in Travis County Jail on a $1 million bond, according to online jail records.

jfechter@mySA.com

Twitter: @JFreports