YORK COUNTY, Pa. — The Central York School District has fired an elementary school teacher accused of threatening to shoot school officials during a disagreement over COVID-19 safety measures in his classroom earlier this year.
Chad Gerrick, a teacher at Sinking Spring Elementary School, was arrested in October after allegedly threatening to "shoot all them... at the ESC," referring to the Central York Educational Service Center, after a plastic barrier erected in his classroom as a safety measure against COVID-19 was removed, according to Northern York County Regional Police.
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 Central York School Board voted to fire Garrick at its meeting Monday night, a school district spokesperson said.
Gerrick was a science at mathematics teacher at Sinking Spring Elementary.
Police claim Gerrick, 50, of Manchester Township, 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 in early October.
A worker who claimed to have heard Gerrick make the statements reported the incident to school administration and submitted a written account of her recollection, according to police.
Gerrick was initially suspended by the school pending an investigation of the allegations against him.
He is charged with two counts of terroristic threats, and is awaiting a preliminary hearing, according to court records.
