Video shows arrest of suspect in Arkansas state park murders

Video from the barbershop where Andrew James McGann was getting a haircut shows police swarming the salon to arrest the man accused of murdering a couple at a popular Arkansas state park. 

McGann, a 28-year-old teacher, has been charged with two counts of capital murder in the killing Saturday of Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41. He made his first appearance on Friday before an Arkansas judge, who ordered McGann to be held without bond at the Washington County Detention Center. 

Why did he kill them? 

What we know:

The Brinks, who had recently moved to Arkansas from North Dakota, were hiking with two of their three children at Devil’s Den State Park when the attack happened. 

Officials said the husband was stabbed first, about half a mile into the park, then the mother ushered her daughters to safety before returning to help her husband. She was also stabbed to death.

The children were not hurt and are being cared for by family members, authorities said. A third daughter was not hiking with her family when the Brinks were killed.

Police released a sketch of the suspect, then later arrested McGann Wednesday afternoon at Lupita’s Beauty Salon and Barbershop in Springdale, about 30 miles north of the state park. McGann was getting a haircut when police cuffed him. 

What they're saying:

Adriana Ruiz, a stylist at the salon, told KFSM that McGann kept his head down, refused to sign in and wanted to keep his hair long to cover his face.

"I was about five minutes into the haircut when a man pulled up and was asking about whose car that was outside," she told the station.

Moments later, she said police swarmed the salon and arrested McGann. Police said he was cooperative and admitted to killing the couple shortly after his arrest. Police also matched his DNA to blood found at the crime scene.

What we don't know:

Authorities haven’t released a motive, but they did say McGann didn’t know the couple and it appeared to be "completely random." It’s unclear if the young girls — ages 7 and 9 — witnessed both their parents being killed. 

What's next:

An Arkansas judge scheduled McGann’s arraignment for Aug. 25.

McGann’s teaching history

Dig deeper:

McGann bounced between four school districts in three states in recent years, records show. 

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. But he passed background checks in two different Oklahoma school districts and had been expected to start a new job in northwest Arkansas on Aug. 11.

McGann 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. He has no criminal record. 

Sierra Marcum, whose son was in McGann’s fourth grade class, told The Associated Press that the teacher 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.

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.

"There were no disciplinary actions taken against him during his time at Broken Arrow Public Schools, and nothing in his background or reference checks gave cause for concern during the interview process," Broken Arrow Public Schools spokesperson Tara Thompson wrote in an email to the AP.