A man killed a woman and their child inside a small in-home daycare center they own in Minnesota before taking his own life, police said on Wednesday.
Hopkins police department said in statement they responded to a report of a stabbing at the residence on the ۲۰۰ block of Tyler Avenue North around ۹am in the Minneapolis suburb of Hopkins. Inside, they found two adults and a child dead.
Police said it was a domestic-related homicide, and “there are no outstanding suspects and no ongoing threat to the public”. Preliminarily, they believe the deceased man was the assailant, and that he took his own life after killing the woman and their child.
Brent Johnson, the Hopkins police chief, said another parent called police after witnessing the attack while bringing a child to Brown Bear Childcare.
“There’s no worse scenario than this, where you drop off your child somewhere you think is safe, and you get that phone call,” he told a news conference. “I think we can all relate, [those] who have children and those who don’t. This is just a tragic situation anywhere in the world, let alone here in Hopkins.”
All six other children who were at the home at the time of the incident were evacuated and have been reunited with their parents, and none were harmed, he said.
The identities of the victims have not been released and Johnson declined to say how they died. Authorities are still investigating the motive.
Patrick Hanlon, the city’s mayor, told reporters: “There are no strangers in this community so … we are all reeling from this tragic incident.”
Jacob Frey, the Minneapolis mayor, said: “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 Mayor Hanlon, offered any assistance that we possibly can provide.”
Police and sheriff vehicles lined the otherwise quiet street where the daycare is located. The brown, two-story house has a mural on the garage door of a tree-lined lake and a moose. Photos on the daycare’s Facebook page show children playing with toys inside and in the backyard, with colorful decorations and artwork on the walls.
Records show the daycare has been licensed by the state since ۲۰۱۹ and has a capacity of ۱۰ children. It was found to be in compliance during visits in ۲۰۲۳, ۲۰۲۴ and ۲۰۲۵.
Johnson said killings were a “rarity” in Hopkins, which has a population of about ۱۹,۰۰۰, and that his officers were shaken by the scene they found inside the home.
“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 said.
