An active crime scene investigation took place last Thursday on campus.

The victim?

Worry not. It was just a mannequin.

According to senior Margaret Hodges, president of the Criminal Justice Association, four members of the Criminal Justice program worked together to bring a mock crime scene to life on campus.

“We made a mock crime scene representing some of the things that we learned in CJ,” Hodges explained. “It was four of us as a set-up team. We planned, organized, set up everything, and the prizes!”

Prizes were awarded for those who placed in the top three. First place received a McDonald’s gift card, second a college essentials basket, and third a basket of candy to match the upcoming spooky season.

In order to win, participants were given 15 minutes to solve the three-tier crime scene. Criminal Justice Professor Nana Nti was enthused by the activity.

“It’s a blind exercise in the form of a sample crime scene,” she said. “They will walk into different types of evidence to process and determine the type of crime scene and what occurred.”

However, according to senior Mackenzie Akers, a prize was not the only thing they hoped the winners would achieve.

“We really just want to show what we CJ majors do here, and the resource that we have,” Akers said. “Most schools don’t have anything like this, and most of our students don’t even know we do have it.”

Senior Haley Whitlow agreed. Soon to graduate with a degree in criminal justice, she also looked forward to sharing challenge she finds in forensics.

“It’s a great opportunity to exercise our intuition and have a good time,” she offered.

Hodges also added that they were all eager to see just what the participants may find throughout the scene.

“We want to hear your story about what you think happened,” described Hodges. “All of our brains are a little different.”