A Minnesota man killed a woman and a child at a daycare center in front of the children.
A 41-year-old man first stabbed to death his elderly relative in Burnsville, then headed to a neighboring town where his wife ran a home-based daycare. The alleged perpetrator killed his wife and daughter in another Minneapolis suburb, Hopkins, and then committed suicide. We compiled a crime scene from materials Fox News, The Guardian, Associated Press и People.
Police believe the 41-year-old man first killed a 78-year-old relative in Burnsville and then traveled to Hopkins, where he stabbed his wife and 7-year-old daughter to death at the family-owned daycare center. He then shot himself. All three murders are considered connected.
Police preliminarily believe the man is the attacker; there are no other suspects, and authorities do not see a threat to others.
On the subject: Minnesota is suing the Trump administration over its efforts to prevent police from investigating ICE-related killings.
What is known about the kindergarten?
The case concerns Brown Bear Childcare, a small family daycare on Tyler Avenue North in Hopkins. Police were called around 9 a.m. on August 12th to a report of a stabbing. Seven children were in the home at the time of the incident. The six other children, besides the deceased 7-year-old girl, were unharmed. Police escorted them out of the home and handed them over to their parents.
A parent who arrived that morning to drop off their child at daycare witnessed the crime. It was this person who called the police. Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson said, "It's the worst thing you can imagine: you bring your child to a place you think is safe, and then you get a call about a crime being committed there."
Brown Bear Childcare operates as a home-based child care center and has been state-licensed since 2019. According to the Associated Press, the facility has undergone state compliance inspections in recent years.
What happened in Burnsville
Around 12:23 p.m., Burnsville police received a report of a stabbing at a residence in the area of Maple Island Road and Joplin Avenue. Burnsville Police Chief Matt Smith notified the scene. A 78-year-old woman was found dead from stab wounds. Police later linked her to the suspect from Hopkins: the woman was his close relative, and the man had recently lived in the residence.
The distance between the two crime scenes is approximately 20 miles (32 kilometers). Investigators believe the Burnsville murder occurred before the Hopkins attack, although it was discovered later.
What is known about the family
Those killed in Hopkins were a 41-year-old woman and her 7-year-old daughter. The deceased man was also 41 years old. Police say the woman is the girl's mother, and the man is her father. Both parents, according to preliminary information, owned a family daycare.
However, police have not yet released the names of the victims or reported any previous cases of domestic violence or crimes on the man's part.
What remains a mystery
The biggest question for the investigation is the motive for the crimes. Police have not yet explained why the man killed his relative, then his wife and daughter, and then committed suicide. Authorities have not yet provided a note or other explanation that would allow them to establish a motive. The investigation is ongoing.
Police are not treating the incident as an attack on a kindergarten or a random attack on children. According to preliminary reports, this is a family tragedy, with the man's immediate target being his own family. The other children witnessed the incident but were not physically harmed.
What they say about the incident
Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson called the incident an extremely rare and serious crime that had a profound impact not only on the families of the victims but also on the officers who responded to the scene. Local authorities organized assistance for the victims and their families, and also provided information on psychological and crisis support.
Law enforcement officials say there is no indication of a threat to residents of Hopkins and Burnsville because the alleged attacker is dead and no other suspects are being sought.
Investigators believe the Burnsville and Hopkins murders were not two independent crimes, but one family tragedy.
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Johnson said homicides in Hopkins are extremely rare and that officers who arrived at the scene were shocked by what they saw.
"I could tell from the expressions on their faces that this was one of those experiences that a person would remember for the rest of their career, and perhaps even their entire life," he suggested.
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