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The 28-year-old teacher accused of stabbing a married couple to death in front of their children at Arkansas’ Devil’s Den State Park bounced between four districts in three states prior to the alleged murders, a report said.
Andrew McGann – who was charged with two counts of capital murder in the killing Saturday of Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41 – was once placed on administrative leave at an elementary school in the Dallas suburb of Flower Mound, Texas, in spring 2023 after concerns were raised about his classroom management, according to the Associated Press.
A parent whose son was in McGann’s fifth grade class in Oklahoma that year also told the AP that he remembers him being “reserved” and “not super friendly,” and that McGann was “just off-putting” the first time they met.
“He wouldn’t look at me really, wouldn’t talk to me. He would only really talk to the kids and he would just walk away,” Kyle Swanson said. “I don’t know, it was a strange interaction.”
ARKANSAS HIKING MURDERS: TIMELINE REVEALS TEACHER SUSPECT’S ROUTE FROM CLASSROOM TO COURTROOM
Arkansas couple Clinton and Cristen Brink and James Andrew McGann, who has been charged following their deaths. (Cristen Brink via Facebook | Arkansas State Police)
McGann, who graduated in spring 2022 from Oklahoma State University-Tulsa with a Bachelor of science degree in elementary education, has active teaching licenses in Arkansas, Texas and Oklahoma, according to each respective government certification website. No infractions or suspensions are noted on his public state licensures in any of those states, the AP reported.
McGann was placed on administrative leave in spring 2023 while he was employed at Donald Elementary School in Flower Mound, Texas, “following concerns related to classroom management, professional judgment, and student favoritism,” according to a spokesperson for the Lewisville Independent School District.
Sierra Marcum, whose son was in McGann’s fourth grade class, told the AP that McGann came across as “pretty cold” and “disinterested in his students.” Marcum said her son came home from school upset about some of McGann’s behavior, which she reported to the school’s principal.
VIDEO SHOWS ARKANSAS HIKING MURDER SUSPECT ARRESTED MID-HAIRCUT
New video shows the moment Arkansas double-murder suspect Andrew McGann is arrested mid-haircut at a local salon. (Lupita’s Beauty Salon & Barber Shop)
McGann resigned from the Lewisville posting in May 2023, the district said in a statement.
The following school year, he taught fifth grade at an elementary school in the Tulsa suburb of Broken Arrow before leaving to take another job at a separate Tulsa-area district, Sand Springs, from the summer of 2024 until May of this year. Officials with both Oklahoma districts said McGann passed all background checks.
McGann was expected to start a new job at Springdale Public Schools in northwest Arkansas on Aug. 11, according to the AP. Then the murders unfolded on July 26 in what police have described as a seemingly “random” attack.
Special Agents with the Arkansas State Police arrested James Andrew McGann, 28, of Springdale, in connection to a double homicide that occurred on Saturday, July 26, 2025, at Devil’s Den State Park. (Arkansas Department of Public Safety)
McGann made his first appearance on Friday before an Arkansas judge, who ordered him to be held without bond at the Washington County Detention Center, assigned him a public defender and scheduled his arraignment for Aug. 25.
Amy Labree, who knew Cristen Brink from a church in Miles City, Montana, told Fox News she had a beautiful voice and was involved in music at the church.
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“She got As in nursing school while raising babies and taking care of her family,” Labree said. “I loved her so much and it just doesn’t seem real. Just seems there should be something I could do to take all this terrible tragedy back. Sadly, they are gone.”
Fox News’ Ashley Papa and The Associated Press contributed to this report.