A fictional murder and mystery attracted students who tried to figure out who killed Jose in the Campus Center Plaza during a event organized by the Associated Student Union on Thursday

ASU Senator Jackie Ortiz said the “Murder Mystery” event’s main purpose was just for students to participate and have fun.

Ortiz said the interactive event was a way to challenge students while getting them to interact with each other during their free time on campus.

ASU Director of Public Relations Francis Samson said the event started at the Campus Center Plaza where students got their passport.

Participants who completed the passport by visiting the four booths set up at nearby buildings and guessed who murdered Jose were able to trade it for pizza.

Liberal arts major Aleema Tahir said it was fun playing the game and it gave her an opportunity to use skills that she accumulated in school.

Tahir said she took a forensics class in high school and this reminded her of that experience and how challenging solving a crime — even a fictional one — could be.

She said taking an English 1A class also prepared her to take notes on everything that she saw at each table and said she enjoyed thinking everything out.

“I don’t care about the prizes, but I’m focused on just enjoying the event because I am on campus all day. Events like this bring joy and excitement to the normal school day.”

Michael Murray, ASU senator, said the second table, set up outside the Student Service Center, was where people could read a speech of the statement and see a picture of the murder weapon.

Each booth  contained a different piece of evidence that helped students come to a conclusion as to who was the fictional murderer, Murray said.

“The student could ask me questions and they would be answered without spoiling anything,” he said.

Ortiz said the third table in the Amphitheater was a display of pictures of the suspects and the fourth and final table held transcripts of interviews with suspects from police interrogations.

Ortiz said participants finished by going around to the booths to bring the passport back to the first table and write who the killer was on the blank backside of the passport.

She said the participants had to include their name, their cell phone number, the time of the murder and the name of the suspect, with a quick description of the player’s reasoning for their conclusion.

The student to correctly guess the murderer first was awarded a Kindle Fire e-reader the next day.

The four runner-ups received a $25 Amazon gift card.

Science, Technology, Engineering or Mathematics major Sheejal Luitel said he saw the event as a way to promote the ASU.

Luitel said the campus should be a place where scholars are able to unite to promote student life and increase awareness about the ASU.