Elderly Dublin Couple Arrested for Killing NYT Gaming Engineer Son‑in‑law

Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, both 76, were arrested on September 28 on suspicion of murdering their son‑in‑law, Jonathan McKinsey, in a Dublin, California park. The shooting happened on Saturday afternoon, September 26, 2026, in the parking lot of a sports complex east of San Francisco. A police sergeant driving nearby saw McKinsey on the ground as witnesses called 911 and pointed out the couple, who remained close to the scene. McKinsey was a 40‑year‑old gaming engineer, director of engineering for The New York Times Games, based in the Bay Area, and had joined the paper in January 2023. Zhang and Chen are the parents of Candice Jang, McKinsey’s wife, and the killing occurred amid a bitter custody dispute; a divorce hearing for the couple was scheduled a week later. Court records show Jang reported McKinsey to police in 2023 for shoving a child and using rough discipline, and she obtained a domestic‑violence protection order in October after he was arrested for misdemeanor child abuse and charged with endangering another child. McKinsey admitted slapping one child and was out on bail at the time of his death, trying to enter a mental‑health diversion program. He had filed for divorce, sought a protection order against Jang, alleged anti‑LGBTQ slurs and abuse during his transition, and asked for more visitation time, having been limited to two hours of supervised visits per week since last fall. The couple have been married since about 2012 and have three young children. They are due to appear in court on the morning of September 30; it is unclear if they have secured legal representation and Jang’s listed phone numbers were disconnected.

Context

Family‑related shootings often arise from intense domestic disputes and custody battles, and protective orders can be contested or ignored, especially when underlying issues like abuse allegations and mental‑health concerns remain unresolved.