NYT Executive shot dead in California: Why were his elderly in-laws arrested?

Jonathan McKinsey, 40, the newspaper’s director of engineering for games, was found with multiple gunshot wounds in the parking lot of Dublin Sports Grounds in Dublin, California, at around 3 p.m. on Saturday, September 26, according to Dublin Police Services.

A police sergeant patrolling the area spotted McKinsey lying in the parking lot and stopped to investigate. At around the same time, authorities began receiving multiple 911 calls reporting a shooting.

McKinsey was pronounced dead at the scene despite efforts by first responders to save him, police said.

Police, with the help of witnesses, detained two suspects within minutes. They were identified as Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 77 and residents of Dublin. The couple are McKinsey’s parents-in-law and were booked into Santa Rita Jail on suspicion of murder. Police said there are no outstanding suspects and no known threat to public safety.

Witnesses cited by media outlets reportedly said the two suspects took turns shooting McKinsey before leaving the scene. Police have not publicly disclosed a motive, and the investigation remains ongoing.

The New York Times confirmed McKinsey’s death and said he had worked for the newspaper since 2023. He was based in the Bay Area and served as director of engineering for NYT Games.

McKinsey joined The New York Times in January 2023 as a senior engineering manager for the Games platform before taking on his current role.

His technology career spanned nearly two decades. Before joining The New York Times, he held engineering positions at companies and organisations including NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and Oracle, and also worked in product strategy at Coursera.

The case remains under investigation, with detectives examining evidence to determine the circumstances that led to the killing.