Although James Andrew McGann, the 28-year-old suspect in the double homicides on the Devil’s Den State Park hiking trail in Arkansas, has been apprehended, his motive remains unclear, and his background as a schoolteacher is even more puzzling. Details about his background as an elementary school teacher are gradually emerging. Parents of Texas students who were taught by McGann two years ago described his “erratic” behavior, and some even observed him grooming female students.
Police believe McGann killed Clinton Brink, 43, and Cristen Brink, 42, in front of their 7- and 9-year-old daughters on July 26. Arkansas State Police Superintendent Mike Hagar told the media on July 31 that police have “no reason to believe there is any known connection between the suspect and the victims” and do not believe the Brinks’ two young daughters were the intended targets of the seemingly random attack.
However, parent Lindsay Camp Polyak told the media that her son was briefly taught by McGann two years ago when he taught at Donald Elementary School in Texas. She and other parents at the time felt their son was falling behind academically and worried that McGann wasn’t providing adequate instruction. She also noticed McGann seducing girls in class.
Polyak said, “My son came home and said, ‘Mr. McGann likes to play tag with the girls every day after class.’ He only gave candy and small prizes to girls.” Other parents reported that McGann would allow certain girls to stay in his classroom during lunch and even encourage them to sit on his lap.
Polyak learned of McGann’s arrest from other parents and said, “I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is McGann! This is the man teaching my child! He has no right to be around our children.'”
Government websites show that McGann holds valid teaching licenses in Arkansas, Texas, and Oklahoma. He worked as an elementary school teacher in Oklahoma in 2022 and moved to Texas in 2023. He returned to Oklahoma from 2024 to May of this year, leaving at the end of the school year to teach in the Springdale Public School District in Arkansas. The Brink family, like McGann, had recently moved to Arkansas.
