Minneapolis mom drops son at day care, then returns to find triple murder

MINNEAPOLIS -- A woman who became suspicious and called 911 after dropping her son off at a suburban Minneapolis day care provider's home stayed on the line as she went back to the house and discovered three people shot to death, according to transcripts of the call.

The Brooklyn Park Police Department released the transcript of the call that took place Monday, minutes after investigators believe a lone male fatally shot DeLois Brown and her elderly parents. 

The transcript provides a chilling account of how the mother became suspicious after seeing a man in a hooded sweatshirt and a glove on one hand on a bicycle outside Brown's home. She told police she called Brown to warn her but spoke to her only briefly before she heard the word "no" and the phone went dead.

When she turned around and returned to the house, she spotted the man riding away with something under his coat. Her alarm grew as she told the dispatcher that her son was inside and that the door was open.
Police were still searching for the lone suspect in the shooting deaths of Brown, 59, and her parents, James Bolden, 82, and Clover Bolden, 81.

'No! No!'
The Hennepin County Medical Examiner said Wednesday that all three victims died of gunshot wounds, and that Brown and her mother had been shot in the head.
The caller stayed on the phone with the 911 dispatcher while she went inside to see if Brown, her son and the others were OK.

She quickly found her son, who was uninjured, but she couldn't find the day care provider right away. She called out to Brown repeatedly, her voice imbued suddenly with horror as she came upon Brown and her parents in a bedroom.

"No! No!" the mother exclaimed to the dispatcher. "They're in their bed. ... There's blood all over them."

The dispatcher instructed the woman to go outside. The transcript shows her crying and praying as she called to her son and told him to get in the car as police arrived on the scene.

Police are offering a $10,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction in the case. Authorities were still saying little else about the slayings because the investigation is ongoing.

Inspector Todd Milburn said authorities are still looking for a man in his 20s who they believe fled on a BMX bicycle. He was wearing jeans and a blue sweatshirt or jacket with a gray hood and white stripes on the back near the shoulders.

Quiet neighborhood
Milburn said police do not believe the suspect was still in the immediate vicinity, and they were working with a number of agencies on the case. The FBI said it was providing assistance to Brooklyn Park police when requested.

The triple slaying is not related to the death of a woman shot in a domestic-related incident Tuesday night just a mile and a half away, Milburn said.
Ashantai Finch, 32, died of a gunshot wound. A man was arrested in that case and remained in custody Wednesday pending possible charges.

"We're focused on solving both crimes, both events," Milburn said. "That's our focus right now."

Milburn said both incidents happened in neighborhoods that are relatively quiet and have few problems with police.

Monday's homicides were the first this year in the Minneapolis suburb. There were five killings in 2011, but Brooklyn Park reported a 20-year low in overall crime in 2011.