Santa Maria police on Wednesday arrested a high school student for making threats on social media, prompting a school lockdown.

Police received information at 11:30 a.m. of threats a Pioneer Valley High School student made on a social media network, said Lt. Kim Graham.

The threat came in the form of a “tweet” on Twitter, and Pioneer Valley staff subsequently notified police, according to a Santa Maria Joint Union High School District statement.

Because of the severity of the threats to children in the Santa Maria community, police quickly responded to Pioneer Valley to collect more information, Graham said.

The school on the northern end of town was briefly placed on lockdown while officers assessed the situation, she said.

Police responded to the potential threat by detaining and interviewing the juvenile student allegedly responsible for the threats, Graham said.

The male student was taken to the police station for questioning, and was subsequently arrested for attempted threats and taken to Santa Maria Juvenile Hall, police said.

Police were not releasing the nature of the threats or the suspect’s name because he’s a minor.

The high school district notified parents of the incident, but would not release any other details.

— Noozhawk staff writer Gina Potthoff can be reached at gpotthoff@noozhawk.com. Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.