A tech executive behind the New York Times's popular games was allegedly shot dead by his elderly parents-in-law in a brazen broad daylight attack, police say.
Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, allegedly fatally shot their son-in-law Jonathan McKinsey, 40, in a parking lot at Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California, on Saturday, as first reported by the California Post.
McKinsey, the head of engineering for games player experience at the New York Times since 2023, suffered multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene, police say.
Witnesses reported seeing two masked shooters approach McKinsey in the parking lot and take turns unloading a barrage of shots into him before they 'calmly' walked away.
Images showed the suspects being taken into custody by the side of the road, after they were reportedly flagged down by stunned witnesses to a nearby police sergeant.
Zhang and Chen are being held without bail in Alameda County’s Santa Rita Jail. The couple are facing a slew of charges including murder, felony conspiracy, child endangerment and dangerously firing a gun.
While police search for a motive, court documents show that McKinsey was in the middle of a child-custody battle with his estranged wife and was facing misdemeanor child-abuse charges.
Additionally, according to The East Bay Times, McKinsey - who was transgender - alleged in court filings that his mother-in-law had used anti-LGBTQ slurs against him and one of his children.
Elderly Bay Area couple Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, allegedly took turns gunning down their son-in-law, New York Times games executive Jonathan McKinsey, in a brazen broad daylight attack on Saturday, police say
McKinsey, 40, the head of engineering for games at the New York Times, was fatally shot in a parking lot in California on Saturday
The former executive transitioned from female to male in 2010 and got married to his wife, Candice Jang, in 2011, according to the New York Post.
The killing occurred a week before a hearing was scheduled in McKinsey and Jang's divorce case. The couple had three young children.
Jang reported McKinsey to police in 2023, accusing him of shoving one of their children and using rough physical discipline with them generally.
In court documents obtained by Mercury News, Jang alleged he hit her six-year-old son in the face during an argument over LEGOs, leaving a 'very large bruise the shape of a handprint' on his face.
She also claimed McKinsey had previously been violent with her in 2018 when he grabbed her wrist hard enough to leave bruises.
In that incident, deputies said they arrived at McKinsey's home to find a two-year-old child left unattended in an upstairs bedroom while McKinsey had left to go shopping.
McKinsey was charged with cruelty to a child by endangering health and corporal injury to a child, both misdemeanors, and was freed on a $50,000 bail.
The bail was conditional on him completing 12 parenting classes.
McKinsey pleaded not guilty in both incidents.
Last October, Jang obtained a domestic violence protection order against him.
McKinsey responded to the court filing by requesting a domestic violence protection order against her and filing for divorce.
He since had sought more time with the three children, noting that he had been limited to two hours of supervised visits per week since last fall, Alameda County court documents show.
In his petition for a protection order, McKinsey alleged that Chen had directed anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at him and at one of their children, the Mercury News reported.
He also accused Jang of being abusive during medical procedures related to his transition.
At the time of his killing, he was out on bail and had been trying to enter a mental health diversion programme, the San Jose Mercury News reported.
Authorities have not said if they believe the past allegations are connected to McKinsey's fatal shooting on Saturday, which unfolded around 3pm after the tech executive was confronted in the parking lot of a Dublin Sports Grounds store.
Witness Assad Razawi told ABC7 that he heard several gunshots ringing out from across the parking lot, before he 'saw the guy drop to the floor.'
'(His) head and chest were bloody,' the witness said of McKinsey.
McKinsey had worked in games tech for the New York Times since 2023
Witnesses said the elderly couple walked calmly away from the scene of the shooting, and they were arrested after being tracked to a black sedan (above) at a nearby intersection
Another witness added that they then saw a 'man and a woman walking together and casually walk away from the shooting' moments later.
A sergeant who was driving nearby saw McKinsey lying on the ground, police said, and officers were scrambled to the parking lot.
Razawi told the San Francisco Chronicle that after witnesses saw two shooters calmly walking away, they were found in a black sedan at a nearby intersection.
Authorities have not said what led up to the shooting, but have confirmed that the suspects are McKinsey's in-laws.
A neighbor of the family told the Chronicle that McKinsey had recently moved out of the home he shared with his wife and three children.
Another neighbor said a detective had knocked on her door asking about the family on Saturday night, hours after McKinsey was shot dead.
A spokesman for the New York Times confirmed to the New York Post that McKinsey had been employed as head of games at the company since 2023.
Before this, McKinsey was an engineering manager at software company Splunk and he studied at UC Berkeley.
Zhang and Chen's arraignment has been scheduled for Wednesday.