After a high school in Parkland, Florida, dealt with a shooting on Feb. 14 that left 17 students dead, Center Hill High School encountered its own safety issues last week. On Feb. 15, Center Hill students, parents and staff were alarmed by a threat to the school via social media that resulted in two arrests.

Because of the threat, many students chose not to attend school on Feb. 16. One of them was sophomore Chloe Orsburn.

“I was scared and I didn’t feel safe going to school,” the 10th-grader said.

Orsburn said she saw on the news Feb. 15 that someone had posted a shooting threat on Snapchat.

“I knew that the school would protect us,” she said. “However, what was to stop the person from shooting through glass doors or windows?”

Catherine Masters, a staff member whose son, Jonathan, is a junior at Center Hill, said she was initially concerned about them going to school the morning of Feb. 16.

“When I arrived at school and observed the police presence, it eased my fears,” she said.

Members of the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department were at the school throughout the day and arrested two Center Hill students the next day.

“The DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department contacted school administration early this morning (Saturday 2/17) regarding their investigation into social media posts,” Principal Doug Payne wrote in a letter to parents on Feb. 17. “After a thorough investigation conducted during overnight hours, the DeSoto County Sheriff’s Department arrested two Center Hill High School students this afternoon (Saturday 2/17) for their involvement in alleged cyberstalking via Snapchat.”

In his letter, Payne also wrote that “the two students will also face disciplinary consequences from the school, and we will seek the maximum penalty allowed by law. We want our parents and students to know that social media posts must be taken seriously, and students must understand that this type of behavior will not be tolerated.”

Orsburn said that despite the arrests, she is still concerned for her safety.

“Someone else could do it and we would never know,” she said.

Editor-in-Chief Sherrice Wright contributed to this story.