Man accused of killing wife, child at in-home daycare center in Minnesota: Police
A man who co-owned an in-home daycare center with his wife is believed to have killed his wife and their daughter before taking his own life while other children were at the home, police in Minnesota said Wednesday.
A 78-year-old woman was also found dead at a residence in a nearby city in what is believed to be a connected incident, police said.
Officers who responded Wednesday morning to a report of a stabbing at the home daycare in Hopkins found two adults and the child dead, police said.
Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson called the scene "horrific."
The two victims, a 41-year-old woman and a 7-year-old girl, were found fatally stabbed in a basement, while the 41-year-old male suspect was found dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound on the upper floor of the residence, according to Johnson.
Six other children who were in the daycare at the time were unharmed and have since been reunified with their parents, according to police. They were all "very, very young" children, Johnson said. It is unclear where they were inside at the time of the altercation, he said.
"This is a tragic day and a horrific scene for little children to witness, if they did witness this," he said.
A parent had arrived at the daycare to drop off their children at the basement entrance when the altercation is believed to have been unfolding and called police, prompting a large police response just after 9 a.m. CT, according to the police chief.
Midday Wednesday, authorities in Burnsville discovered another fatal stabbing at a residence the suspect is believed to have been living in, authorities said. The victim -- a 78-year-old woman -- is believed to have been a "close family relative" of the suspect, according to Burnsville Police Chief Matt Smith.
"Based on work between our officers and investigators with the Hopkins Police Department, we believe this tragedy and the tragedy in Hopkins are linked," Smith said during a press briefing.
Police are still working to determine the timeline of the incidents, Johnson said.
Officials have not released the names of the victims, pending family notification. It is unclear at this time if the suspect and his wife were separated or what their living situation was, Johnson said.
"This is a horrific, tragic situation for any community, especially here in Hopkins, where we don't see this type of crime," Johnson said during an earlier press briefing. "The impact is felt not only here but elsewhere for every parent who has a child in a daycare setting or anywhere where they don't have immediate control over their child. It's heartbreaking."
There is no outstanding threat to the community, and this is believed to be an isolated, domestic incident, Johnson said.
A motive remains under investigation, the chief said.
Hopkins, a city of about 20,000 residents, is located approximately 10 miles west of Minneapolis. The mayor said the community is "reeling."
"We operate as a small community, and everyone knows each other," Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon said during the briefing. "There are no strangers in this community, so we are all reeling with this information right now as a community."
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
