Devil's Den murder suspect Andrew James McGann would ‘tickle' girls, parent at his former school says
The teacher accused of murdering two parents in front of their young daughters at Devil's Den State Park in Arkansas once put a little girl on his lap and asked her to be his 'girlfriend' at his former Texas school, a disturbed parent recalled to The Post on Friday.
Andrew James McGann, 28 — who authorities say admitted to butchering Clinton David Brink, 43, and wife Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, on Saturday — put the 'little girl on his lap' and said 'things like, 'I wish I could date you, I wish you could be my girlfriend,' just really nasty like grooming behaviour', said Zacharri Polyak, whose son attended Donald Elementary School in Flower Mound when the accused killer taught there.
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Andrew James McGann. Picture: Washington County Sheriff's Office via AP
'This monster was around our children,' fumed the dad, who added that his son was occasionally in his class on Fridays.
'Mr McGann was giving a lot of special treatment to girls in particular. He was giving them candy, bringing them Sonic drinks, playing tag with them, tickling them, just really suspect behaviour.'
The north Texas school district, Lewisville ISD, told The Post McGann was placed on administrative leave 'following concerns related to classroom management, professional judgement, and student favouritism' while he was employed during the 2022-23 school year.
Cristen and Clinton Brink were slaughtered on Saturday. Picture: Facebook
However, their 'internal investigation found no evidence of inappropriate behaviour with students'.
McGann resigned in May 2023, according to the school district.
But Mr Polyak expressed outrage that he was let off so easily.
Their daughters survived and ran to safety. Picture: Facebook
'It should have been an immediate firing with reports to Child Protective Services,' he said.
Sierra Marcum, whose son was in McGann's fourth-grade class at the Texas school, shared that the alleged murderer was strange and stand-offish during her previous encounters with him.
'[He was] pretty cold. You could ask him a question, and he would give you a one-word response,' Ms Marcum said. 'Overall, just pretty disinterested in his students.'
McGann has been charged with two counts of capital murder. Picture: Michael Woods/AP
He was the 'most stand-offish teacher' she had ever met, she said.
Ms Marcum reported some of McGann's behaviour to a principal after her son came home upset, she said.
'Eventually, he told me that he and some other classmates had noticed that Mr McGann was very touchy and showed a lot of favouritism to certain girls in the class,' Ms Marcum said, without elaborating.
'I guess [the murder allegations] did surprise me, because while I thought he was off, I never thought he was violent,' she told WFAA.
McGann was hired the next school year to teach fifth grade at Spring Creek Elementary in Oklahoma — which told The Post that a thorough background check turned up nothing to indicate he shouldn't be hired.
'As with all district employees, McGann underwent and passed all legally required national background checks,' the school district said in a statement, adding that no alarms were raised during his interview and that there was never reason to discipline him during his tenure.
Police shared a photo of a man in the woods before they located McGann. Picture: Arkansas State Police via AP
McGann was set to start a new teaching job at Springdale Public Schools in a week.
SPS superintendent Jared Cleveland confirmed McGann had been hired for the teaching job, but said he 'has not at any time come into contact with Springdale students or the families we serve', according to 5 News.
McGann allegedly ambushed the parents and stabbed them to death while their two daughters, ages nine and seven, ran to safety. The two girls were unharmed.
Police tracked down McGann at a barbershop and arrested him mid-haircut after a five-day manhunt.
He was charged on Wednesday with capital murder.
McGann appeared in court Friday and was ordered held without bail, according to 5 News.
Investigators have yet to determine a motive for the deadly attack.
This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission
Originally published as Devil's Den murder suspect Andrew James McGann would 'tickle' girls, parent at his former school says
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