Authorities link Hopkins daycare murder-suicide to Burnsville homicide
Police say the stabbing and shooting at a Hopkins in-home daycare, which killed two adults and a child, are connected to a separate homicide of a 78-year-old woman in Burnsville, involving a close family member.
Police in Hopkins and Burnsville announced that two separate violent incidents are linked through a family relationship. In Hopkins, officers responding to a report of a stabbing at an in-home daycare on Tyler Avenue North found a 41-year-old woman and a 7-year-old girl with stab wounds and a 41-year-old man who had died from a self-inflicted gunshot. The man was identified as the child's father and the woman as the child's mother; investigators said the couple were married but their exact marital status at the time was unclear. A family dropping off children at the daycare called police after witnessing the attack, enabling officers to confirm the suspect was deceased. Six other children were present but were unharmed and later reunited with their families.
In Burnsville, detectives responded to a stabbing report at a residence near Maple Island Road and Joplin Avenue, where a 78-year-old woman was found dead. The victim was described as a close family relative of the suspect involved in the Hopkins case, and the suspect had recently lived in the same home. A family member alerted police after discovering the body. Both investigations remain active, and authorities said there is no ongoing threat to the public.