YORK COUNTY, Pa. — An elementary school teacher in the Central York School District was arrested last week, accused of threatening school officials after a plastic barrier erected in his classroom as a safety measure against COVID-19 was removed, police say.
Chad Gerrick, 50, of Dove Drive in Manchester Township, is charged with one misdemeanor count of terroristic threats, according to a criminal complaint affidavit filed by Northern York County Regional Police.'
Gerrick, a teacher at Sinking Spring Elementary School, was charged last Friday after a cafeteria worker heard him threaten to "shoot all them f--kers at the ESC," referring to the Central York Educational Service Center on Marion Road, police said in the complaint.
Gerrick also allegedly said that if he got sick with COVID-19, he would "come to school and spread COVID to everyone I can," according to police.
The worker who claimed to have heard Gerrick make the statements reported the incident to school administration and submitted a written account of her recollection. She said Gerrick made the statements Friday morning.
Police claim Gerrick was angered by a conversation he'd had with members of the school administration after a plastic barrier he had erected in his classroom as a safety measure against COVID-19 was removed by the school's maintenance staff.
Gerrick was suspended by the school pending an investigation of the allegations against him, police say.
When questioned by police, Gerrick declined to make a statement without an attorney present, according to the complaint.
He was taken the Central Booking for processing and to await arraignment on the charge, according to police.
Police executed a search warrant on Gerrick's vehicle and home on Friday afternoon, the complaint states. There were no weapons found in his vehicle. Investigators removed two long guns and a handgun from his Manchester Township home, according to police.
