Oakland police have identified the couple found shot to death outside a Panoramic Way home near the Berkeley border as Bryan Walker and Michelle Min, the husband-and-wife founders of the Berkeley women's apparel brand Bryn Walker, according to KRON4, NBC Bay Area and SFist.
A neighbor reported hearing gunshots around 10:45 a.m. Friday, Oct. 2. Officers found Min, 63, and Walker — cited as 61 by KRON4 and as 64 by NBC and SFist — with fatal gunshot wounds outdoors at a home in the 400 block of Panoramic Way in the Panoramic Hills neighborhood above the University of California, Berkeley. Assistant Chief Casey Johnson said a firearm was recovered, there was no ongoing threat to the area, and police were not looking for other suspects.
Investigation still open
Johnson has not publicly classified the case as a murder-suicide, telling reporters that "everything is a possibility until we can fully investigate." Relatives and neighbors have described a different picture in interviews with other outlets. Min's brother, Paul Min, told the Los Angeles Times — as relayed by KRON4 and SFist — that he believes Walker killed his sister and then himself after months of mental-health decline tied to large financial losses. SFist, citing Bay Area News Group coverage of a Sunday vigil, said neighbors gathered on a public trail believed the same, and some described Walker as "mentally unstable" in recent weeks.
SFist also reported neighbor surveillance audio that allegedly captured a man screaming and crying after a first gunshot, then a second. Paul Min told the California Post, as summarized by SFist, that Walker had taken on risky loans, believed he had lost roughly $100 million, and had been severely depressed; Min said his sister had been exploring inpatient treatment and that Walker may have learned of that the day of the shooting. Oakland police have not publicly confirmed those family accounts.
A longtime Berkeley brand
Bryn Walker, founded in 1991 per state business records cited by NBC, operates Berkeley retail locations and a wholesale line sold through boutiques nationwide; SFist said the company once listed about six owned stores plus wholesale to roughly a thousand shops, with shops on Fourth Street and Vine Street in Berkeley and another on Martha's Vineyard. KTVU, as cited by SFist, found the Vine Street boutique closed Monday with flowers outside while Fourth Street stayed open. A growing memorial of flowers and cards appeared outside the couple's home, KRON4 reported.
Anyone with information can contact Oakland Police homicide investigators at 510-238-3821 or tip line 510-238-7950, or email video and photos to [email protected].