A tech boss who worked on the popular New York Times games has died after his in-laws allegedly took turns shooting him in a car park.

Jonathan McKinsey, 40, was killed in an alleged attack by Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, at Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California, on Saturday.

Witnesses claim to have heard shots ring out after seeing two people in masks approach the victim.

The suspects allegedly took it in turns to aim at him before ‘calmly’ walking away.

‘[McKinsey’s] head and chest were bloody,’ a witness told local news outlet ABC7.

Zhang and Chen were taken into custody and are being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail in Alameda County.

They face several charges, including murder, child endangerment, dangerously firing a gun, and felony charges.

McKinsey had been head of engineering for games player experience at The New York Times – which owns the likes of Wordle and Connections – since 2023.

He had been married to Candice Jang since 2011, but the pair had recently become estranged and were embroiled in a custody dispute at the time of McKinsey’s death.

McKinsey died just a week before a hearing in the couple’s divorce was scheduled to take place.

He was also facing misdemeanor child abuse charges, according to court documents.

In 2023, Jang reported McKinsey to police and accused him of shoving one of their children.

Court documents seen by Mercury News showed Jang accused McKinsey of hitting her six-year-old son in the face and leaving a ‘very large bruise the shape of a handprint’.

She also alleged that, in 2018, McKinsey had grabbed her wrist and left bruises.

When officers attended McKinsey’s address, they said they found a two-year-old child unattended in an upstairs bedroom while he had left to go shopping.

He was charged with cruelty to a child by endangering health and corporal injury to a child and released on a $50,000 bail, on the condition of him completing 12 parenting classes.

He pleaded not guilty to both incidents.

Jang later obtained a domestic violence protection order against her then-husband, to which McKinsey responded by requesting a domestic violence protection order back against her and filing for divorce.

He was limited to two hours of supervised visits with his children per week but was seeking more time with them.

The East Bay Times reported that McKinsey – who was transgender – had separately accused his mother-in-law of using anti-LGBTQ+ slurs against him and one of his children.

He also accused Jang in court filings of having been abusive for more than 15 years, including when he was transitioning.

But in a court filing last month, Jang wrote: ‘Due to his violent and negligent history, our children are simply not safe when left unsupervised and in his care.’

At the time he was killed, McKinsey was out on bail and had been seeking to enter into a mental health diversion program, Mercury reports.

It is unclear whether the allegations of abuse were a motivating factor in McKinsey’s alleged killing.

‘Part of our investigation is looking for motives from all angles as well as looking at the histories and relationships of everyone involved and associated with the victim and suspects,’ Captain Michael Campos, of Dublin Police Services, told the New York Post.

An arraignment for Zhang and Chen has been scheduled for Wednesday.

MORE: Danny Tommo clutches Bible in court appearance as he’s refused bail over ‘dinghy slashing’

MORE: Saved by the Bell actor Dennis Haskins dies aged 75

MORE: Child killer Jon Venables to have private parole bid despite plea from James Bulger’s mother