The claim emerged as police investigated the deaths of the woman, her daughter and husband and a potentially connected Burnsville killing.
HOPKINS, MN — A woman killed Wednesday at her Hopkins home daycare had been preparing to leave her husband within days and close the child care business, a friend told FOX 9, as authorities investigated a series of deaths involving the family.
The friend’s account provides new context about the family before the Aug. 12 violence at Brown Bear Childcare, but police have not established a motive or independently confirmed allegations about problems in the couple’s relationship. Authorities said a 41-year-old man stabbed his wife and their 7-year-old daughter at the daycare before fatally shooting himself. Six other children at the daycare were not physically harmed.
FOX 9 reported that the friend said the woman planned to close the daycare because she intended to leave her spouse, who owned the home where the business operated. The friend also described problems in the relationship and raised the possibility of abuse. Police had not publicly confirmed those allegations Wednesday, and investigators continued working to determine what led to the killings.
The attack unfolded Wednesday morning at Brown Bear Childcare, an in-home daycare on Tyler Avenue North in Hopkins, a Minneapolis suburb. Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson said a parent arriving to drop off a child witnessed the attack and called police. Officers responding to the home found the three members of the family dead.
Johnson said the six other children who were inside were unharmed and were reunited with their families. He said the circumstances were especially difficult because parents had entrusted the daycare with their children’s safety. The chief said the scene also had a significant emotional impact on officers who responded.
The investigation widened later Wednesday when police in Burnsville announced that the Hopkins suspect was also believed to be connected to the killing of a 78-year-old woman described by authorities as a close family relative. Police found the woman dead at a Burnsville home after responding shortly before 12:30 p.m. Authorities said the 41-year-old suspect in the Hopkins killings was believed responsible for that death as well.
Officials had not publicly released the names of the dead as of Wednesday afternoon. Authorities said the investigation remained active, and the precise sequence of events linking the Hopkins and Burnsville scenes was still being established. The friend’s description of the woman’s plans to leave her husband remained a witness account rather than an official finding about the motive for the killings.
Brown Bear Childcare had operated as a state-licensed daycare since February 2019. State records reviewed by FOX 9 showed it was licensed for as many as 10 children, including no more than six children under school age. The license was registered in the woman’s name. Inspections in March 2023, January 2024 and September 2025 found the daycare in compliance, with no violations listed in those records.
The daycare operated from a two-story home across from a park in a residential neighborhood. Neighbors told reporters they had not been aware of serious trouble at the property. Police said violent killings are uncommon in Hopkins, and investigators continued processing the daycare and coordinating with Burnsville authorities as they examined the related deaths.
Authorities had not announced a confirmed motive by Wednesday evening. Investigators were continuing to examine the family circumstances, evidence from both locations and the events leading to the attacks, while the friend’s account about the woman’s planned departure remained one part of the developing investigation.
Author note: Last updated August 12, 2026.