HASTINGS — A suburban Minneapolis man is charged with trying to kill his two young sons during a suicide attempt.

Twenty-seven-year-old Jay Anthony Ernst of Lakeville was charged Friday with two counts of attempted murder.

Police said Ernst tried to kill the boys and himself by rigging a car’s exhaust pipe.

A family member interrupted Ernst’s attempt after finding the three in the running vehicle in a closed garage in Lakeville early Thursday. The family member called police, but Ernst had fled with the children, ages 2 and 4, by the time officers arrived.

The Minnesota Bureau of Criminal Apprehension issued an Amber Alert to help locate the three, and an officer in Burnsville spotted the vehicle.

Bail for Ernst was set at $1 million. He remains in jail.