Police recovered a firearm at the Panoramic Way scene and said they were not searching for a suspect at large.
OAKLAND, Calif. — A 61-year-old man and a 63-year-old woman believed to be a married couple were found fatally shot outside their Oakland Hills residence Friday morning, prompting an investigation into circumstances police said remained unresolved.
Berkeley police received a report of gunfire in the Panoramic Hill area shortly before 11 a.m. Oct. 2 and responded along with Oakland officers. The victims were found outside a home in the 400 block of Panoramic Way, near the Berkeley city line and east of the University of California, Berkeley campus. Officers tried to provide lifesaving aid, but both victims died at the scene. Oakland police took the lead in the investigation.
Oakland Assistant Police Chief Casey Johnson said investigators recovered a firearm at the scene. Police were not searching for anyone believed to be at large, and Johnson said authorities had found no indication of an ongoing threat to the surrounding neighborhood. Investigators had not determined publicly whether the shooting was a homicide, murder-suicide or another type of incident.
Johnson said investigators were not ruling out a possible murder-suicide, but police had not announced a final conclusion about how the two people died. No motive had been released, and authorities had not provided a detailed sequence of events leading to the gunfire. No arrests were announced in the initial investigation.
Police did not publicly identify the victims during the initial briefing. CBS San Francisco reported that public records and neighbors identified the homeowners as Bryan and Michelle Walker, clothing designers associated with the Bryn Walker apparel business. The company operates retail locations in Berkeley and Massachusetts and sells clothing through other boutiques. Authorities had not publicly confirmed that identification as of the latest reports.
The shooting brought officers from both Oakland and Berkeley because Panoramic Way runs through a hillside area close to the boundary between the two cities. The location is also close to UC Berkeley. University officials said the campus was not affected by the shooting, and university police reported that there was no known or continuing threat to the campus.
Residents described an unusual level of police activity in the normally quiet hillside neighborhood. Neighbor Alessandro Isolani told CBS San Francisco that he heard two bangs close together before emergency responders arrived. He described the shooting as shocking and said he had lived in the Panoramic Hill area for more than 20 years without encountering similar violence there.
Early reports contained a minor discrepancy about the man’s age, with one account listing him as 64. Oakland police and multiple subsequent reports gave his age as 61, while authorities consistently described the woman as 63. Police had not released the victims’ names pending the continuing investigation and notification process.
The investigation remained active Saturday as Oakland police worked to determine what happened outside the home and the relationship of the recovered firearm to the deaths. Authorities had not announced a motive, a final classification of the case or additional findings establishing the sequence of events.
Author note: Last updated October 3, 2026.