In a Dublin, California park parking lot on a September afternoon, Jonathan McKinsey — a 40-year-old engineering executive at New York Times Games — was shot and killed by his own parents-in-law, a married couple in their late seventies who remained at the scene until police arrived. The killing did not emerge from nowhere: behind it lay months of child endangerment charges, competing restraining orders, and a divorce filing — the slow collapse of a family that ended, finally, in an act of irreversible violence in a public place. It is a reminder that the most devastating ruptures are rarely s
New York Times Games exec killed in Bay Area shooting; elderly in-laws arrested
Jonathan McKinsey, 40, was fatally shot multiple times in a public park parking lot.
Two people fired. Both wore masks. Minutes later, they remained nearby.
Mark
So we have a man shot dead in a parking lot, and his in-laws arrested. But there's this whole other story in the court records—child endangerment charges, restraining orders, a divorce filing. How do those pieces fit together?
Mimi
That's what makes this so difficult to understand right now. The police haven't connected those dots publicly. We know McKinsey was charged in October, his wife filed for a restraining order days later, and then he filed his own order and for divorce in December. But we don't know if the in-laws were involved in those earlier disputes, or if they were acting on information from their daughter, or what they believed justified what happened.
Luke
And that's important to name: we don't actually know the motive. We have a sequence of events—charges, court filings, then a shooting—but police explicitly said they're still investigating the circumstances. That's not the same as understanding why two 77-year-olds decided to shoot their son-in-law in a public parking lot.
Mimi
Right. The witnesses saw them do it—saw them hand the gun back and forth, both firing. That part is fairly clear from what people observed. But the why is still open.
Mark
What about the child endangerment charge? Does that tell us anything about what McKinsey was accused of?
Luke
Only that he was charged and pleaded not guilty. We don't have the details of the allegation, the victim's age, nothing. It's a real charge with real consequences potentially, but it's also just a charge at this point. And we have to be careful not to assume it justifies anything that came after.
Mimi
The restraining order from his wife is significant though—that suggests she felt unsafe around him. But then he filed one against her too, which complicates the picture. These were active family disputes.
Mark
Do we know if the in-laws and McKinsey had a prior relationship? Were they close, or was there already tension?
Luke
The reporting doesn't say. We know they're his parents-in-law, we know they remained at the scene, we know they were detained quickly. But their relationship to him before this moment—whether they were close, whether they blamed him for something, whether they were protecting their daughter—that's all still unknown.
Mimi
And that's what the investigation will try to establish. Right now we have facts: the shooting, the arrests, the prior charges and court filings. The story of why it happened is still being written.
O Pulso
- A police sergeant stumbled upon a man collapsed in a parking lot mid-afternoon — within minutes, 911 calls confirmed what he feared: Jonathan McKinsey, 40, had been shot multiple times and was already dead.
- Witnesses described a coordinated attack: a man fired first, passed the gun to a woman, and she fired too — both wore masks, both were in their seventies, both were the victim's parents-in-law.
- The couple, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, did not flee — they were detained near the scene and booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of murder, with arraignment set for Wednesday.
- The killing did not arrive without warning: McKinsey had faced child endangerment charges in October 2025, his wife had sought a restraining order days later, and he had filed for divorce and a counter-restraining order by December — a family in open legal warfare.
- Police say no suspects remain at large and no public threat persists, but the full chain of events connecting the family court battles to the parking lot shooting remains under active investigation.
In a Dublin, California park parking lot on a September afternoon, Jonathan McKinsey — a 40-year-old engineering executive at New York Times Games — was shot and killed by his own parents-in-law, a married couple in their late seventies who remained at the scene until police arrived. The killing did not emerge from nowhere: behind it lay months of child endangerment charges, competing restraining orders, and a divorce filing — the slow collapse of a family that ended, finally, in an act of irreversible violence in a public place. It is a reminder that the most devastating ruptures are rarely sudden, and that the law, even when engaged, cannot always outpace grief and fury.
On a weekend afternoon in Dublin, California, a police sergeant driving past the Dublin Sports Grounds noticed a man collapsed in the parking lot. Officers arrived to find Jonathan McKinsey, 40 — head of engineering at New York Times Games since January 2023 — shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
Witnesses described what they saw with unsettling clarity: a man fired first, then handed the gun to a woman, who fired as well. Both wore masks. Minutes later, officers detained two people who had not left the area — Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77, both Dublin residents, and both McKinsey's parents-in-law. They were booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of murder.
The shooting was the violent endpoint of a family in prolonged legal crisis. In October 2025, McKinsey had been charged with child endangerment and corporal injury to a child — charges he denied. Within days, his wife Candace Jang sought a restraining order against him through Alameda County court. By December, McKinsey had filed his own restraining order against Jang and initiated divorce proceedings. The precise grievances behind each legal action remain unclear from public records alone.
Police confirmed there are no outstanding suspects and no threat to the broader public. Zhang and Chen were scheduled for arraignment Wednesday, where more of the case's architecture may come into view. Investigators continue to examine how the months of family court conflict connected to the afternoon a son-in-law was shot in a public parking lot by the parents of his estranged wife.
A Dublin police sergeant driving past the Dublin Sports Grounds on a weekend afternoon spotted a man collapsed in the parking lot. Within minutes, 911 calls flooded in. Officers arrived to find Jonathan McKinsey, 40, shot multiple times. He was pronounced dead at the scene.
McKinsey had worked as head of engineering at New York Times Games since January 2023, based in the Dublin area. His death marked an abrupt end to a professional role at one of the nation's largest media companies, but the circumstances that led to his killing in a public parking lot would soon reveal a family fracture that had been widening for months.
Witnesses told police they saw two people commit the shooting. A man fired first, then handed the gun to a woman, and she fired as well. Both wore masks. Minutes later, officers detained two suspects who had remained near the scene: Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77 years old and both Dublin residents. Police identified them as a married couple and McKinsey's parents-in-law. Both were booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of murder.
The shooting did not occur in isolation. Court records paint a picture of deteriorating family relations. In October 2025, McKinsey had been charged with child endangerment and corporal injury to a child. He pleaded not guilty. Days after those charges were filed, his wife, Candace Jang, sought a restraining order against him through Alameda County court. In December 2025, McKinsey filed his own restraining order against Jang and filed for divorce shortly after. The exact nature of the disputes—what prompted the charges, what led to the competing restraining orders, what triggered the divorce—remained unclear from public records alone.
Police said they were still investigating the circumstances that led to the shooting and did not elaborate on how the earlier charges or family court actions connected to the killing. They stated there were no outstanding suspects and no ongoing threat to public safety. Zhang and Chen were scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday, when more details about the case would likely emerge.
Citações Notáveis
Police said there are no outstanding suspects and no threat to public safety.— Dublin Police Services
McKinsey had been an employee since January 2023 and was based in Dublin.— New York Times Games company spokesperson
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