HOPKINS, Minn. — A man who killed his wife and their 7-year-old daughter at a daycare in Minnesota is also suspected of killing a 78-year-old female relative, police said Wednesday.
The 41-year-old man fatally shot himself after stabbing his wife and the child at the in-home daycare in Hopkins, a suburb of Minneapolis, police said.
All six other children who were at the daycare were not physically harmed, authorities said. Another parent called police after witnessing the attack while dropping off a child Wednesday morning, Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson said.
“There’s no worse scenario than this, where you drop off your child somewhere you think is safe, and you get that phone call,” Johnson said at a news conference.
___
EDITOR’S NOTE — In the U.S., the national suicide and crisis lifeline is available by calling or texting 988. There is also an online chat at 988lifeline.org
___
At an afternoon news conference, the police chief in Burnsville stepped forward and said a woman who was the man’s “close family relative” was also found dead at a home where they were both living. Authorities declined to release the victims’ identities.
Amanda Marx, a nurse who lives across the street, didn’t realize anything was wrong until she noticed police officers trying to break down the home's front door.
She said officers moved behind the home before reappearing and calling for crime scene tape. Later, several young children emerged — one being carried by an officer.
The brown, two-story house has a mural on the garage door of a tree-lined lake and a moose. Photos on the daycare’s Facebook page show kids playing with toys inside and in the backyard, with colorful decorations and artwork on the walls.
Marx said she and her 7-year-old son always referred to it as the “garage house” due to the colorful mural. The longtime resident said she’d never met the home's owners and was unaware they were running Brown Bear Childcare out of the home. She didn’t recall any prior disturbances.
“I’m just trying to figure out how to explain to my 7-year-old why there’s crime scene tape on our deck,” she said.
Records show the daycare has been licensed by the state since 2019 and has a capacity of 10 children. It was found to be in compliance during visits in 2023, 2024 and 2025.
Johnson said killings are a “rarity” in Hopkins and that his officers were shaken by the scene they found inside the home.
“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,” Johnson said.
___
Rico reported from Atlanta. Associated Press writer Ed White in Detroit contributed.