CEO of swanky fashion house and wife shot dead at $1.2 million California home leaving upscale community shaken
A couple was mysteriously found shot dead outside a $1.2 million California home sending shockwaves through their upscale neighborhood.
The 63-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man were discovered at around 10.45am on Friday.
They have been identified by CBS as clothing designers and homeowners Bryan and Michelle Walker.
The Oakland Police Department confirmed it responded to reports of a shooting at a house on Panoramic Way, just outside of the University of California, Berkeley campus.
Officers provided lifesaving measures but pronounced the couple dead at the scene, according to Assistant Police Chief Casey Johnson.
Johnson told reporters at a press conference on Friday evening that no one had been arrested in connection with the deaths and the homicide unit was investigating.
He added that a firearm was located on the scene and there is no threat to the neighborhood.
Investigators have not concluded the shooting as a murder-suicide, but noted that they were not ruling anything out.
Police rushed to a home on Panoramic Way in California on Friday morning to find a couple dead outside their home
The couple were identified as a 63-year-old woman and a 61-year-old man. They were found with apparent gunshot wounds and pronounced dead at the scene
One of the couple’s neighbors, Alessandro Isolani, told the outlet that Bryan was ‘a good guy, solid member of the community,’ and in a long-term marriage.
The pair are well-known designers of the Bryn Walker line. The company has been based in Berkeley since 1992 and operates six stores. Walker also served as the CEO.
Bryn Walker is also available in thousands of boutiques nationwide and at the department store Dillard’s.
Isolani recalled hearing two bangs before police arrived.
‘It’s shocking. I’ve lived up here on Panoramic Hill for 20-something years, and I have never seen any violent crime up here,’ he said.
The scenic neighborhood is home to posh houses and a row of Greek life housing for Berkeley students.
The university said on social media that there were no ‘known or ongoing threats’ to students following the shooting.
Iker San Juan, a Berkeley exchange student from Mexico, told the San Francisco Chronicle that he and his roommate heard the sirens before campus notified them of the shooting.
The incident has left the Berkeley community extremely shaken, according to locals
Berkeley resident Steve Kanofsky told local ABC News 7 that the incident was ‘tragic,’ adding he hopes it does not lead to increased police surveillance in the neighborhood.
Michael Walkman of the Panoramic Hill Neighborhood Association added that the shooting was ‘shocking.’
‘We don’t see the people that live there very much. They are not really involved in the neighborhood community. Mainly, you just see their vehicles come in and out,’ he added.
The Oakland Police Department is asking anyone with information or surveillance footage that could help the investigation to send it to its homicide team. Police did not confirm the couple’s identity when asked by the Daily Mail.
The Daily Mail has also reached out to Bryn Walker for comment.
