Search Warrant Reveals How Hopkins Daycare Killer Attacked Wife, Daughter

HOPKINS, MN — A newly unsealed Hennepin County search warrant identifies the man who killed his wife and 7-year-old daughter at a Hopkins in-home daycare Wednesday as 41-year-old Nathan Brown

The warrant says Brown attacked his wife, Kristen Brown, 41, and their daughter, Evie, inside the basement daycare Kristen operated before fatally shooting himself in an upstairs closet.

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A father dropping off his children for daycare heard screams from the basement and initially believed Brown was performing CPR before he realized what he was witnessing, the warrant states.

The warrant says Brown used a screwdriver to carry out the attack.

Six other children present were not physically harmed.

Records show the daycare had been licensed since 2019 and was found in compliance during inspections in 2023, 2024 and 2025.

Authorities believe Brown also killed a 78-year-old relative earlier that day at her home in Burnsville, where he had recently been living.

Police have not released the woman's identity or said how she was related to Brown.

Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson said at a Wednesday press conference that there were "no outstanding suspects and no ongoing threat to the public."

Brown Bear Childcare was listed on Google Maps as permanently closed by Wednesday evening.

The victims' families addressed the tragedy directly in a statement released through the Hopkins Police Department:

"We are completely heartbroken and devastated over this tremendous loss and tragedy. Our families ask for time and privacy as we grieve. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the children and families of Brown Bear Daycare. The families of Brown Bear Daycare were and are so very loved and considered family."

Reporting from the Associated Press was used in this story.