Schoolteacher Arrested for Killing Husband and Wife Who Died While Protecting Their Young Daughters

Andrew James McGann was arrested for the brutal double homicide of a husband and wife, who were slaughtered while protecting their two young daughters on a hiking trail in Devil’s Den State Park in Arkansas, authorities say.

School teacher McGann, 28, was nabbed at a barbershop about 30 miles from the scene of the daytime attack following a five-day manhunt after the bodies of Clinton David Brink, 43, and Cristen Amanda Brink, 41, were discovered at the popular tourist destination, lawmen say.

According to a CNN report, the Brink children — aged 7 and 9 — were not physically harmed and sought help at the park’s visitor center, saying their parents were stabbed by an assailant.

The youngsters are currently in the care of relatives.

McGann — who had left his Oklahoma school job in May to accept a new teaching position in Arkansas — is charged with two counts of capital murder and remains in custody.

According to the New York Post, a woman claiming to be a parent of one of the alleged butcher’s former pupils in Texas wrote on Facebook, “My son and several students witnessed Mr. McGann being inappropriate with little girls in the class and reported it to the principal.”

However, she added that the school found “no evidence of inappropriate behavior.”

Col. Stacie Rhoads, commander of the state police department’s criminal investigation division, says tips and video footage received from the public were instrumental in the suspect’s capture.

“We’re still exploring and determining exactly what that motive [for the killings] was,” Rhoads said, according to NBC News.

The outlet also reports that the Brink family said in a statement: “Clinton and Cristen died heroes protecting their little girls, and they deserve justice.”