Key takeaways:
- Six other children were inside the Hopkins home day care during the attack and were evacuated without physical injuries, police said.
- A 78-year-old woman described as a close relative of the suspect was found dead hours later in Burnsville, about 12 miles from Hopkins.
- Authorities have not released the names of the victims or suspect and said they were still investigating the motive.
A Minnesota man fatally stabbed his wife and 7-year-old daughter at a home day care where six other children were present, then killed himself, police said Wednesday. Hours later, authorities in a nearby city found a 78-year-old woman dead in what investigators believe was a connected killing.
Hopkins police responded around 9 a.m. to a report of a stabbing at a residence on the 200 block of Tyler Avenue North in Hopkins, a Minneapolis suburb. Police said they found a 41-year-old woman and the couple’s 7-year-old daughter dead in the basement of the home, which operated as Brown Bear Childcare, and found the 41-year-old suspect dead on an upper floor.
Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnston said the man fatally shot himself after the stabbings. Police described the case as a domestic-related homicide and said there were no outstanding suspects and no ongoing threat to the public.
A father dropping off his child at the day care witnessed an altercation and called police, Johnston said. Six other children were inside the home at the time, in the basement where the day care entrance is located. They were not injured, were safely evacuated and have been reunited with their parents.
Johnston said it was unclear what the children saw.
“I just don’t know the specific locations of every child inside the residence or what they actually saw or not,” he said. “We can make assumptions on that.”
“This is a tragic day and a horrific scene for little children to witness — if they did witness this,” he said.
At a news conference, Johnston described the setting as the kind of place parents trust with their children.
“There’s no worse scenario than this, where you drop off your child somewhere you think is safe, and you get that phone call,” he said. “I think we can all relate, [those] who have children and those who don’t. This is just a tragic situation anywhere in the world, let alone here in Hopkins.”
Around 12:25 p.m., police in Burnsville, about 12 miles southeast of Hopkins, were called after a family member reported a stabbing, Burnsville Police Chief Matt Smith said. Officers found a 78-year-old woman dead. Police described her as a close relative of the suspect and said investigators believe he had recently lived at the Burnsville home.
Authorities have not publicly identified the victims or the suspect, saying family notifications were pending. Police in Hopkins and Burnsville said they were not aware of any prior police calls to either home or to the day care. Investigators were still working to determine a motive.
“Our entire community is grieving the loss, unnecessarily, due to domestic violence,” Johnston said.
Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon called the city close-knit and said residents were shaken.
“This city has shed a lot of tears today over this incident, over this immense loss,” Hanlon said. He also told reporters, “There are no strangers in this community so … we are all reeling from this tragic incident.”
Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said he had contacted Hanlon and offered assistance. “I know that our hearts and our prayers are with the people of Hopkins and any families that have been impacted,” Frey said.
The Guardian reported that the day care has been licensed by the state since 2019, has a capacity of 10 children and was found in compliance during visits in 2023, 2024 and 2025. Johnston said killings are rare in Hopkins, a city of about 19,000, and that officers were visibly shaken.
“I could see on the look on their faces that this was one of those ones that you’ll remember for your entire career, if not life,” he said.
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