Who was Jonathan McKinsey? New York Times Games director shot dead in California; 77-year-old in-laws arrested

Police identified the suspects as Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, a married couple and McKinsey’s parents-in-law. Both were arrested on suspicion of murder and booked into Santa Rita Jail. Police said the investigation remains active and that detectives are examining the circumstances that led to the killing.

What happened at the sports complex

Dublin police said multiple witnesses began calling 911 around the time the sergeant found McKinsey. Witnesses also pointed officers towards the couple, who remained near the scene.

Police located and detained Zhang and Chen within minutes, according to the city of Dublin. The department credited witnesses and community members with helping officers make the arrests.

Witness Assad Razawi told local media that he heard five or six gunshots before seeing McKinsey fall in the parking lot. Other witnesses reported seeing the suspects leave the area.

Some witnesses have said the two suspects took turns shooting McKinsey, but police have not publicly confirmed that account or identified which suspect, if either, fired the weapon.

There were no outstanding suspects and police said there was no known threat to public safety.

Who was Jonathan McKinsey?

McKinsey was the director of engineering for New York Times Games and had joined The New York Times in January 2023, according to the newspaper.

Before joining the Times, he held software and engineering roles at companies and organisations including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Oracle, Coursera, UKG and Splunk. He also had a master’s degree in computer science from the University of California, Berkeley.

The Times confirmed his role but declined to comment further on his legal disputes.

Shooting came amid divorce and custody dispute

The killing occurred as McKinsey and his wife, Candice Jang, were involved in divorce and child-custody proceedings, according to court records cited by Associated Press and Bay Area news organisations.

The couple had been married for more than a decade and had three young children. A family-law hearing was scheduled for shortly after McKinsey’s death. Court records show that Jang had sought a domestic-violence protection order against McKinsey. She alleged a series of incidents involving herself and the couple’s children.

McKinsey was separately charged with misdemeanour child-abuse offences and pleaded not guilty, according to court records cited by local media. He was out on bail at the time of his death and had been seeking entry into a mental-health diversion programme, AP reported, citing the San Jose Mercury News.

McKinsey later sought a protection order against Jang and filed for divorce. He also sought greater access to the couple’s children.

Jonathan McKinsey, a 40-year-old from Dublin, California, was fatally shot in a sports complex parking lot on Saturday, Sept. 26. McKinsey was the Director of Engineering for The New York Times Games and was going through a contentious divorce with the suspects' daughter,… pic.twitter.com/kN1ryVIyrD

— ABC7 News (@abc7newsbayarea) September 29, 2026

In his court filings, McKinsey made allegations against Jang and her mother, Chen. He alleged that Chen had directed anti-LGBTQ+ slurs at him and one of the children. He also accused Jang of abuse during medical procedures related to his transition, according to reporting based on court documents.

The allegations made by both sides have not been adjudicated in court.