Police found three family members dead from apparent stabbings and a self-inflicted gunshot wound Wednesday morning inside an in-home daycare on Tyler Avenue North in Hopkins, Minnesota. Investigators quickly linked the tragedy to a separate Burnsville homicide involving a close relative.
A routine morning drop-off transformed into a horrific crime scene on Wednesday, August 12, 2026, when a parent arrived at Brown Bear Daycare in Hopkins and witnessed an active attack according to authorities. Hopkins Police Department officers arrived at the residence on the 200 block of Tyler Avenue North shortly after 9 a.m. to find an unfolding domestic tragedy.
Inside the basement of the home where the daycare operated, responding personnel discovered a 41-year-old woman and a 7-year-old girl dead from apparent stab wounds. In an upstairs room, investigators found a 41-year-old man dead from an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound. Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson identified the three deceased individuals as members of the same family and preliminarily named the man as the perpetrator of the isolated attack.
Six Young Children Unharmed and Reunited With Families
While unspeakable violence unfolded inside the residence, six other very young children present in the daycare facility remained physically unharmed. Police officers safely evacuated the children from the home and quickly coordinated efforts to reunite them with their families.
Photo: Foxbaltimore
Chief Johnson added that the emergency response left visible emotional scars on his personnel. 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 told reporters during an afternoon news briefing.
Burnsville Homicide Connected to the Hopkins Investigation
As investigators processed the Tyler Avenue North property, a parallel emergency call drew law enforcement to a second residential scene roughly three hours later. Burnsville police responded at approximately 12:23 p.m. to a home in the area of Maple Island Road and Joplin Avenue after a family member called police after finding a woman dead inside.
Photo: FOX9
Burnsville Police Chief Matt Smith confirmed that the victim was a 78-year-old woman who suffered fatal stab wounds. Authorities established that the elderly woman was a close relative of the suspect in the Hopkins daycare deaths, and that the suspect had recently been living at the Burnsville residence.
When asked whether the Burnsville stabbing preceded the bloodshed in Hopkins, Chief Smith noted that timing appeared to be the case, though an exact timeline remained under active investigation. Police emphasized that no note was left behind at the Hopkins location, and authorities confirmed there was no ongoing threat to the public.
State and Local Leaders Respond to Community Trauma
Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon described the deep grief gripping the municipality during the Tyler Avenue North investigation. This city has shed a lot of tears today over this incident, over this immense loss, Hanlon told reporters, emphasizing the tight-knit nature of the community.
Photo: KSTP
“I know that our hearts and our prayers are with the people of Hopkins and any families that have been impacted. I have already touched base directly with Hanlon and offer any assistance we can provide. The City of Minneapolis stands with Hopkins. We are not strangers to crisis, and when it takes place, we work together. That’s exactly what we’ll be doing here.”
BREAKING: Burnsville homicide linked to suspected murder-suicide at Hopkins daycare
“Your heart, you just think about these little kids in the daycare. Our daughter went to daycare for a while. You think about dropping your child off, and then thinking about them in this scene of incredible violence and tragedy. You think about the relatives of this family, what they’ve lost with a little child, a mom and what these kids witnessed. No matter how old they are, it’s going to be with them forever.”
Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn.
Active Investigation and Medical Examiner Disclosures
Law enforcement agencies from multiple jurisdictions continue to piece together the sequence of events connecting the Hopkins home daycare and the Burnsville residence. Investigators have not yet released a suspected motive for the killings.
Official identification of the deceased victims, along with the precise medical determinations regarding their injuries, remains pending pending formal examinations and releases from the medical examiner’s office.
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