FATHER ARRIVES AT MINNESOTA DAYCARE TO FIND WOMAN AND 7-YEAR-OLD GIRL UNDER ATTACK, POLICE SAY

HOPKINS, MINNESOTA — A routine daycare drop-off turned into a horrifying scene Wednesday when a Minnesota father walked through the back door of a home childcare center and heard children screaming.

According to a search warrant, the father entered Brown Bear Childcare in Hopkins and discovered 41-year-old Nathan Brown allegedly attacking his wife, 41-year-old Kristen Brown, and their 7-year-old daughter, Evie.

Police say Brown was armed with a screwdriver.

The father immediately grabbed his own child and two other children and fled the building before calling 911.

THREE PEOPLE FOUND DEAD

Officers arrived at the daycare and found Kristen, Evie and Nathan Brown dead.

Investigators say Nathan had attacked his wife and daughter before apparently taking his own life with a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Six other children were reportedly inside the daycare at the time.

They were safely evacuated and, according to police, none of those children suffered physical injuries.

Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson described the situation as one of the worst scenarios a parent could imagine.

“You drop off your child somewhere you think is safe,” Johnson said, “and you get that phone call.”

INVESTIGATORS LINK ANOTHER DEATH TO THE CASE

The investigation did not stop at the daycare.

Authorities also believe Nathan Brown killed his 78-year-old mother, Alice Brown, at her home in Burnsville before traveling to the childcare center.

She was found dead from what investigators described as an apparent stabbing.

Police are continuing to investigate the sequence of events and the circumstances that preceded the killings.

QUESTIONS ABOUT THE FAMILY’S RELATIONSHIP

Investigators say Kristen had planned to close Brown Bear Childcare approximately two weeks before the killings.

According to police, relationship problems involving Nathan were among the circumstances surrounding that decision.

The information has raised questions about what was happening inside the family in the days leading up to the violence.

Authorities have not indicated that the daycare children were specifically targeted.

A TERRIFYING MOMENT FOR PARENTS

For the father who arrived that morning, the priority was immediate: get the children out.

He managed to remove three children from the building before calling emergency services.

The six remaining children were later evacuated by authorities.

The incident has left the Hopkins community shaken and raised painful questions about domestic conflict, childcare safety and how quickly a family crisis can escalate into deadly violence.

The investigation remains ongoing as authorities work to reconstruct what happened before Nathan Brown arrived at the daycare.

A place where parents expected their children to be safe became the scene of a devastating family tragedy — while a quick-thinking father helped get three children to safety.