It was the sad, last performance for "Dirty Joe" today at Hokes Bluff High School.

Joe is the nickname for the dummy used in the forensics class offered to juniors and seniors, and it was a typically rough day for "him." He sat at a lunch table with his hands taped behind him, two bullet holes in his back, the apparent victim of a drug deal gone wrong. The dummy is due to be retired soon.

A few feet away stood about a dozen students, some taking notes, some taking pictures, while others tried to process the clues left by instructors.

Mark Hopwood, senior forensics scientist with Jacksonville State University's Center for Applied Forensics, asked students what they thought had happened to "Joe." A few offered theories, just as one student accidentally kicked a shell casing across the room.

"Real world, dude," Hopwood said, laughing. "That's what happens."

Wednesday was the first experience the class had in learning to decipher a crime scene, Hopwood said. Investigators with the Cherokee County and Etowah County Sheriff's offices also took part.

Students were shown a room with "Joe," sitting over a pool of blood. A few inches away was a ring. Shell casings lay in the floor, along with a handgun near his feet. An empty whiskey bottle was cast in the floor, along with a hairpin. Across the room, a rifle casing lay, with a rifle discarded in a garbage can.

Two different weapons, a piece of jewelry, a bound victim, an execution-style murder. Which clues matter? Will students see all of the possible clues? These are the kind of real-world scenarios the students get.

"How do you know what's important?" Hopwood asked the class. "You don't, so you collect everything."

Lynette Marbut, who teaches the class, said several students over the last eight years have gone into law enforcement after taking the forensics class. Today about 75 took part in the crime scene exercise over several hours. Each group had about 15 minutes to get to know "Dirty Joe."

Katelin Tew, 17, was one of them. She thought there were probably two shooters involved in the crime. But she was surprised at how many details had to be noticed.

"It's the little bitty things you have to look at," she said.

Hopwood said the exercise teaches students to think on their feet.

"You can sit in class and look at PowerPoints and books all day long," he said. "But this allows you to apply what you've learned. No two crime scenes are alike."