Police in Hopkins, Minnesota, are investigating an apparent murder-suicide after a parent dropping off a child on Wednesday, August 12, witnessed an attack inside an in-home daycare. Three members of a single family and an elderly relative in a separate Burnsville home were found dead.
A Morning Drop-Off Interrupted by Violence
The emergency call reached dispatch just after 9 a.m. on Wednesday, August 12, stemming from a residential property on the 200 block of Tyler Avenue North in Hopkins, Minnesota. According to Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson, a parent arriving to drop off a child at the Brown Bear Center witnessed the unfolding violence and immediately notified authorities.
Inside the basement space where the at-home daycare operated, responding officers discovered a 41-year-old woman and a 7-year-old girl suffering from fatal stab wounds. In an upstairs room of the same residence, officers found a 41-year-old man dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Investigators established that the deceased adults and child belonged to the same family, with the adult man and woman identified as the operators of the daycare and the young girl as their daughter.
“There’s no worse scenario than this, where you drop off your child somewhere you think is safe, and you get that phone call.”
Chief Brent Johnson, Hopkins Police Department
Six other children, all roughly 5 years old or younger, were inside the home when the attack occurred. Although investigators noted that these children were in the basement where the parent witnessed the assault, none of the youngsters were physically harmed. Police quickly removed them from the property and reunited them with their families as the investigation unfolded.
Connecting the Hopkins Scene to Burnsville
The tragedy in Hopkins did not stand alone. Later that same day, Burnsville police responded around 12:30 p.m. to a residence near Maple Island Road and Joplin Avenue following a report of a stabbing. Inside, officers found a 78-year-old woman dead.
Burnsville Police Chief Matt Smith announced during a joint afternoon briefing that investigators had linked the two locations. The elderly victim in Burnsville was identified as a close family relative of the male suspect in Hopkins, and the man was known to live at that Burnsville residence.
Law enforcement officials confirmed that authorities had no prior contact with the suspect. Investigators have not recovered a suicide note, and a definitive motive remains under investigation.
Community Shock and Official Responses
The city of Hopkins, a suburb situated about 12 miles southwest of Minneapolis with roughly 19,000 residents, rarely encounters violent crime of this magnitude. Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon spoke to the profound grief settling over the neighborhood.
This city has shed a lot of tears today over this incident, this immense loss,
Mayor Hanlon told reporters, adding that local daycare operators immediately stepped forward to offer free care for the affected children while families navigated alternative arrangements.
State and county officials also mobilized resources.
