A 40-year-old New York Times Games engineering director was shot and killed Saturday afternoon in a parking lot at a sports complex in Dublin, California, and police arrested his 77-year-old in-laws in connection with the shooting.
Jonathan McKinsey was found with multiple gunshot wounds at Dublin Sports Grounds around 3 p.m., according to Dublin Police Services. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Police identified the suspects as Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, a married couple who are both 77 and are the parents of McKinsey’s wife. They were taken into custody and are being held at Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of murder.
Investigators have not released a motive for the shooting.
A police sergeant driving near the sports complex spotted McKinsey lying in the parking lot and stopped to investigate. Officers responding to the scene later found Zhang and Chen nearby in a black sedan, according to police.
McKinsey was the director of engineering for the games department at The New York Times, according to a company spokesman. He joined the newspaper in 2023 after previously working at technology companies including Splunk, Coursera and Oracle.
According to his LinkedIn profile, McKinsey had nearly 20 years of experience in software engineering and product strategy, including more than eight years managing engineering teams. He also taught computer science part-time at Georgia Tech and UC Berkeley.
Court records show McKinsey and his wife had a troubled marriage and had filed separate requests for domestic violence restraining orders against each other.
McKinsey’s wife, Candice Jang, filed for a temporary restraining order in October 2025 involving allegations of domestic violence and also sought protection for their three children and her mother.
Police records cited by The New York Times say Jang told officers that McKinsey had struck their 6-year-old child in the face. Officers also found their 2-year-old child alone in an upstairs bedroom when they went to the home.
McKinsey was later charged with two misdemeanor counts of child abuse. He pleaded not guilty and was released on conditions that included completing parenting classes.
Zhang and Chen are also facing allegations involving the discharge of a firearm with gross negligence, conspiracy and child endangerment likely to produce great bodily injury or death, according to police.
The couple is scheduled to be arraigned Wednesday.