A quiet Minnesota childcare setting became the center of a devastating family tragedy on Wednesday, August 12. Police say Nathan Matthew Brown, 41, killed his wife, Kristen Ann Brown, 41, and their 7-year-old daughter, Evie Ann Brown, at Brown Bear Childcare in Hopkins before dying from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
Investigators also believe Brown was connected to the death of his 78-year-old mother, Alice Anne Brown, in Burnsville earlier that day, though authorities continue working to establish the full timeline.
Minnesota logged four deaths tied to licensed childcare settings in all of 2022. That number alone gives you a sense of just how rare and how jarring this particular morning was for everyone connected to it.
What Actually Happened Inside Brown Bear Childcare
Police say the violence played out during what should have been an ordinary morning at Kristen Brown’s in-home daycare.
Officers were called to Brown Bear Childcare on Tyler Avenue North just after 9 a.m. on August 12 after a report of a stabbing.
When they got there, they found Kristen and Evie dead from stab wounds in the basement and kitchen. Nathan was found upstairs in a closet, dead from what investigators are calling a self-inflicted gunshot wound.
A search warrant later revealed a screwdriver was used in the deaths of Kristen and Evie. A handgun was tied to Nathan’s death.
A Parent Walked in Thinking It Was CPR
One detail from the police report is the kind that sticks with you.
A parent arrived at the daycare that morning with two children in tow and heard screaming coming from the basement. He went in.
At first, he thought he was watching Nathan perform CPR. It only became clear he was watching an attack once he got closer.
He gathered the kids and got out before calling 911. That single decision, made in seconds, may have helped ensure six children left that house physically unharmed that day.
The Investigation Didn’t Stop in Hopkins
Hours after police discovered the Hopkins scene, they found a connected crime scene nearly twenty miles away in Burnsville.
Officers responded near Maple Island Road and Joplin Avenue and found Alice Brown, Nathan’s 78-year-old mother, dead from apparent stab wounds.
Authorities believe Nathan killed her earlier that same day, before ever making it to the daycare. He’d reportedly been living at that Burnsville home recently.
That detail is part of what investigators are now trying to map out as they build the day’s full timeline.
Burnsville Police Chief Matt Smith confirmed the two scenes were connected, saying, “based on work between our officers and investigators with the Hopkins Police Department, we believe this tragedy and the tragedy in Hopkins are linked.”
That one line turned what looked like an isolated daycare incident into something involving four members of the same family, across two different cities, in a matter of hours.
Kristen Had Already Planned to Close the Daycare
A search warrant affidavit revealed that Kristen had told daycare families about two weeks before the killings that she planned to shut Brown Bear Childcare down.
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According to the affidavit, her stated reason was “relationship issues with Nathan.”
Police haven’t said this is what triggered the violence. They’ve been careful not to draw a direct line between the two.
It’s simply one more piece of a picture that’s still being put together. It adds a layer of context to a decision she made weeks before her death.
For what it’s worth, the daycare itself wasn’t the problem here. Brown Bear Childcare had been licensed since 2019, was approved for up to 10 children, and passed compliance inspections in 2023, 2024, and 2025. This wasn’t a story about an unsafe facility.
How Hopkins Is Talking About What Happened
Local officials have focused mostly on the weight the community is carrying right now, rather than speculating on motive.
Hopkins Police Chief Brent Johnson called the scene “horrific,” adding, “This is a tragic day and a horrific scene for little children to witness, if they did witness this.”
Hopkins Mayor Patrick Hanlon described the town as “reeling.” He also said something that’s stuck with a lot of people since: “There are no strangers in this community.”
Those aren’t just press-conference quotes. They reflect how small and connected Hopkins really is, and how far the impact of one morning has traveled.
What Happens to the Six Kids Who Were There
Physically, all six children who were inside the daycare that morning are okay, and they’ve since been reunited with their families.
What’s still unknown is whether any of them actually witnessed what happened, or where exactly they were in the house when it did.
That gap between physical safety and emotional impact is one of the hardest parts of a story like this to sit with. Whatever comes next for those kids will depend entirely on the support systems around them in the weeks and months ahead.
Where the Investigation Goes From Here
Police haven’t released a motive. They also haven’t confirmed any prior warning signs, threats, or protective orders connected to the family.
The focus now is on finishing the timeline between Burnsville and Hopkins. Investigators are working to figure out exactly how the day unfolded hour by hour.
Some of those answers may come through evidence. Others may remain unclear, as many family tragedies do once the people who could explain them are gone.
What happened at Brown Bear Childcare reminds us that the places we consider safest are still just homes, run by people carrying whatever they’re carrying, even when everything on paper says everything is fine.
If you found out your child had been in that daycare that morning, what would you even want to know from the people in charge?
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