Jonathan McKinsey, a 40-year-old technology executive at The New York Times, was shot dead at a sports complex in California on Saturday. He was found with multiple gunshot wounds in the parking lot of Dublin Sports Grounds at around 3 pm (local time), according to the New York Post. His elderly in-laws, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, were later arrested in connection with the killing.

Police said officers patrolling the area spotted McKinsey after emergency dispatchers began receiving multiple 911 calls about the shooting. First responders tried to save him, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

WITNESSES SAW MASKED SHOOTERS

Witnesses told authorities they saw two masked attackers approach McKinsey in the parking lot before opening fire.

According to The Post's account, the two suspects allegedly took turns shooting at McKinsey before they were arrested by a police officer who happened to be nearby. Footage from the scene showed McKinsey's body lying in the parking lot as police investigated the shooting. Video also showed a man and a woman being placed into the back of a police vehicle.

The suspects were identified as Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77. Alameda County Sheriff's Office inmate records show Zhang is 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighs 165 pounds, while Chen is listed as 5 feet 2 inches and 110 pounds.

The elderly couple, who are from the Dublin area and also have ties to Albuquerque, New Mexico, were booked into Alameda County's Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of murder.

MCKINSEY WAS MARRIED TO THEIR DAUGHTER

McKinsey was married to Candice Jang, the daughter of Zhang and Chen, according to the Post.

Booking records show the couple faces several serious allegations. The charges include first-degree murder, felony conspiracy, illegally or dangerously firing a gun and child endangerment involving conduct that could have caused serious injury or death.

WHO WAS JONATHAN MCKINSEY?

According to the Post, McKinsey began his technology career in the late 2000s, working in software engineering roles at organisations including NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Oracle. He later moved into product strategy at online education company Coursera before shifting towards engineering management.

In 2018, McKinsey joined UKG, where he took on increasingly senior engineering leadership roles. He later worked at Splunk, further building his experience in managing large technology teams and products.

His career eventually brought him to The New York Times in early 2023.

McKinsey initially joined the newspaper as a senior engineering manager working on its games platform. His work involved the technology behind popular NYT Games products, including Connections, while helping ensure the systems could handle huge increases in traffic.

He later moved to the games player experience team and rose through the engineering ranks. By late 2025, McKinsey had become director of engineering for games player experience. In that role, he led a 25-member team focused on developing new features and supporting monetisation for the newspaper's millions of daily puzzle players.

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