A Northern California couple found shot dead outside their residence, near the University of California, Berkeley campus, has been identified by family as the founders of a women’s fashion boutique based in Berkeley.
On Oct. 2, Berkeley and Oakland police responded to a report of gunshots near 499 Panoramic Way, an upscale Panoramic Hill neighborhood that sits at the border of both cities, at about 10:45 a.m., according to Oakland police.
Shortly after officers arrived, they found Bryan Walker, 61, and Michelle Min, 63, suffering from gunshot wounds, and they were pronounced dead at the scene by emergency medical personnel.
Oakland Police Department recovered a firearm at the scene, and investigators did not rule out the possibility that the killings were a murder-suicide.
However, Min’s brother, Paul Min, told the Los Angeles Times that his sister was killed by Walker before he took his own life.
The couple owned and operated Bryn Walker, a high-end women’s fashion boutique, which opened in Berkeley in 1992. The boutique operates two stores in Berkeley, one in Massachusetts, and wholesales to thousands of other stores across America, according to the company’s website.
But months leading up to the shooting, Paul Min noted that Walker had made some risky financial decisions, losing millions of dollars because of them and, as a result, Walker had become depressed and potentially suicidal, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Out of concern for Walker’s failing mental health, Min and her brother agreed to have him institutionalized until he recovered. The siblings were planning to send him on the day of the shooting, which Paul Min believes may have been the reason behind the killings, according to the Los Angeles Times.
The Oakland Police Department has still not released a motive behind the attack as of Oct. 7, 2026.
During a press conference shortly after the killings, Casey Johnson, Assistant Chief of Police of the Oakland Police Department, noted that it did not have any suspects.
“Everything is a possibility until we can fully investigate,” Johnson said during the press conference.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Details emerges regarding the Northern California couple found dead
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