A Kentucky high school suspended two students for showing up dressed as the Columbine shooters for Halloween on Wednesday.

The two teenage girls who attend Adair County High School were wearing outfits that resembled those worn by 17-year-old Dylan Klebold and 18-year-old Eric Harris the day they killed 12 classmates and a teacher at a Colorado high school in 1999.

A student from the school told USA TODAY that no one could identify who the girls were dressed as until around lunchtime, when one of them began telling other students, "We're the school shooters."

"They pretty much had on all black with fake blood on their faces," said Briana Stapleton, a senior at the high school. "At the time, it wasn't really scary because they didn't have weapons or anything, but the whole thing was really weird.

She said the two girls were freshmen.

Photos circulating on social media showed the two re-enacting moments from the Columbine shooting. One photo showed the girls sprawled on the floor in the school library. Another shows them standing outside the school looking at the camera with a blank stare. They wore dark eye makeup, distressed denim jeans and black baseball caps.

"It wasn't the costumes that freaked people out," said Stapleton. "It was when they started telling everyone and posting photos on social media that things really got out of hand."

Pamela Stephens, Adair County Schools Superintendent, said in a statement: "We take the situation very seriously and our personnel are continuing to investigate the facts and circumstances surrounding this matter. The students are currently suspended.

"We do not take distracting behavior on social media posts lightly."

The superintendent did not say how long the two girls were suspended. She said that an investigation is ongoing.

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The father of one of the girls told NBC affiliate LEX 18 that his daughter understands that the Halloween costumes and social media posts were a mistake. He said he was initially unaware of who the girls dressed up as.

He also said that the girls have received death threats.

"It's ridiculous," Amy Tarter, mother of a student at the school, told WHAS-TV. "I think any child that does that should be expelled and any parents who (support) their child (doing that) should have charges brought against them."

Tarter said her daughter, a senior at the school, saw the girls' social media posts and was outraged at the costumes.

"You worry every day about sending your kid to school, and now you have people joking about it," Tarter told WHAS-TV.

Other adults from the area said they were disturbed by the costumes.

"I think its despicable and completely insensitive," said Brandi Hoots, 28, who graduated from Adair County High School. "The parents should have known. Considering all the stresses that school children have now concerning school safety, this whole thing was beyond out of line."

She said the incident "strikes a nerve" with residents in the state because of a school shooting that occurred earlier this year at Marshall County High School in western Kentucky where two students died and 18 others were injured.

Follow Dalvin Brown on Twitter: @Dalvin Brown