LITTLE ROCK, Ark. (AP) — A 28-year-old teacher who authorities say admitted to fatally stabbing two hikers he didn’t know in an Arkansas state park bounced between four school districts in three states in recent years.

Andrew James McGann was 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. 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 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, assigned him a public defender and scheduled his arraignment for Aug. 25.

Police say motive unknown

Arkansas State Police Col. Mike Hagar said Thursday that authorities are trying to determine a motive for the attack at Devil’s Den, a 2,500-acre (1,000-hectare) state park about 140 miles (220 kilometers) northwest of Little Rock. Its trails have been closed to the public since Saturday.

State Police arrested McGann on Wednesday at a barbershop in Springdale, about 30 miles (50 kilometers) north of the park, said Maj. Stacie Rhoads, commander of the department’s criminal investigation division.

Adriana Ruiz, a stylist at Lupita’s Beauty Salon and Barber Shop, told Fort Smith television station 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.

The Associated Press left messages at numbers listed for McGann, who has no criminal record.

Officials said the husband was stabbed first, about half a mile (0.8 kilometers) into the park, then the mother ushered her daughters to safety before returning to help her husband. She was also stabbed to death.

Authorities have not said if the girls — ages 7 and 9 — witnessed both their parents being killed. They 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.

McGann was cooperative during his arrest and admitted to killing the couple soon after, Rhoads said. Police also matched his DNA to blood found at the crime scene. Rhoads described the killings as random.

Suspect’s teaching history

McGann, who graduated in spring 2022 from Oklahoma State University-Tulsa with a bachelor’s of science 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 Associated Press has reached out to all three state education agencies.

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, said 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.

Kyle Swanson’s son was in McGann’s fifth grade class in Oklahoma in 2023 and said he remembers him being “reserved” and “not super friendly.”

The first day they met, he was “just off-putting,” Swanson said. “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. I don’t know, it was a strange interaction.”

Spokespeople from both Oklahoma districts said police have not reached out regarding the investigation.

McGann had not yet started his new job in Arkansas at Springdale Public Schools, said Jared Cleveland, the district superintendent. He said the district could not provide more information, citing the investigation.

Police flooded with tips

McGann was arrested after a five-day search and hundreds of tips.

The State Police collected photos and videos from other hikers who had been on the trails but didn’t witness the attack. Police also released a composite sketch and a photo that showed a person of interest from behind.

The police then narrowed down the suspect’s vehicle, which had tape over the license plate, using surveillance footage from homes and businesses near Devil’s Den.

Within an hour of identifying McGann as a suspect, police captured him at the barber shop.

Washington County prosecutor Brandon Carter indicated the jury would have the option to sentence McGann to the death penalty.

The victims had just arrived in Arkansas

The Brinks and their three daughters had recently moved from South Dakota to the small city of Prairie Grove in northwest Arkansas.

Clinton Brink was supposed to start working as a milk delivery driver on Monday, according to Hiland Dairy, his employer. Cristen Brink had been licensed as a nurse in Montana and South Dakota before moving to Arkansas.

The Brink family has said the couple died “heroes protecting their little girls.”

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Riddle reported from Montgomery, Alabama. Associated Press reporters Sean Murphy in Oklahoma City; Hallie Golden in Seattle; and Corey Williams in Detroit contributed.