Three high school students in Florida were honored by city commissioners Wednesday for their actions to prevent a possible school shooting.

Coral Springs High School students Jose “Daniel” Salazar, Sinclaire Caprio and Alejandra Palma alerted school officials and a police officer after Salazar saw a classmate entering the school with a gun in his waistband in October.

The police officer responded to the report and arrested 17-year-old Ryan Trollinger, who was in the school cafeteria with a 9mm gun. The following day police arrested another teen for posting a threat on Instagram warning “Watch out for round two springs.” A third teen was later sent for psychiatric evaluations following written threats of violence, according to the Sun-Sentinel.

City commissioners gave the students who reported the weapon a standing ovation and Police Chief Tony Pustizzi said the students “stopped a potential Columbine.”

“They weren’t afraid to open their mouth,” Chief Pustizze said at the event. “Thankfully we did not have a school shooting.”

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“I just happened to see it, I thought it was fake at first,” Salazar said. “It could have gone really bad.”

The students admitted they hoped they mistook something else for a gun and considered walking away from campus before seeking help from faculty members.

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