Daycare Killer Stabbed Elderly Relative Before Taking Lives Of 7-Year-Old, Woman: Police

HOPKINS, MN — A man who stabbed his 7-year-old daughter and the mother of his child to death at a home daycare on Wednesday in Hopkins, then lethally shot himself, had previously killed an elderly relative in Burnsville, according to police.

A daycare customer arriving to drop off their children at the business in the 200 block of Tyler Avenue North encountered the violent scene and called police around 9 a.m., according to Hopkins Chief Brent Johnson, who spoke at a press conference Wednesday, published in full by FOX 9 on YouTube.

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The girl and her 41-year-old mother were in the basement daycare area, while the man, also 41, was upstairs, Johnson said, adding six other children were at the daycare when police arrived and were safely evacuated.

"This is a tragic day and a horrific scene for little children to, to witness, if they did witness this," Johnson said.

A Second Scene

About three hours later, shortly before 12:30 p.m., a family member called police and reported that a 78-year-old woman — a close relative of the Hopkins assailant — had been found, also fatally stabbed, at a home near Maple Island Road and Joplin Avenue in Burnsville, Chief Matt Smith said at the press conference. The attacker had recently been living at the Burnsville address, according to Smith.

"At this time, there are no outstanding suspects and no ongoing threat to the public," Johnson said.

Police said that they had not had any prior calls to the addresses where Wednesday's crime scenes were discovered, and that they did not immediately have a motive but would continue to investigate.

None of the deceased were named by authorities on Wednesday, as their identifications were pending notification of family, according to police.

Brown Bear Childcare, a daycare in the immediate area of where police said the Hopkins stabbing took place, was listed Wednesday evening on Google Maps as permanently closed.

Records show the daycare, which the attacker and the 41-year-old woman owned, had been licensed by the state since 2019 and had a capacity of 10 children. It was found to be in compliance during visits in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.