A shocking shooting incident took place in Dublin, East Bay, San Francisco, recently, where a 77-year-old Chinese couple, Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, are accused of fatally shooting their 40-year-old son-in-law, Jonathan McKinsey, in broad daylight. The victim, McKinsey, was a director in the gaming department at The New York Times and identified as transgender. Both suspects are currently in custody without bail.
The incident occurred around 3 p.m. on September 26 at Dublin Sports Grounds parking lot. When police and witnesses arrived at the scene, McKinsey was found with multiple gunshot wounds, lying on the ground, and was pronounced dead on the spot.
According to various media reports, witness Assad Razawi stated that he heard about five to six gunshots and then saw McKinsey on the ground. Following the shooting, a man and a woman calmly left the scene.
Video footage taken by Razawi showed that the police stopped the two suspects near Civic Plaza and Dublin Boulevard intersection a few minutes after the incident. The suspects complied with police commands and were arrested on the spot.
The Dublin police confirmed that the suspects are the 77-year-old Shouyong Zhang and Shili Chen, who are a married couple and McKinsey’s in-laws.
The couple is currently detained at the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin without the option for bail. The official police announcement stated that the two are arrested on suspicion of murder, with additional charges including child endangerment and conspiracy.
The Alameda County District Attorney’s Office mentioned that they are reviewing the police investigation materials. The police have not yet disclosed the specific motive for the crime, only stating that McKinsey was deliberately targeted.
McKinsey had been working as the engineering director at The New York Times Games department. The Times confirmed that he had been with the newspaper since 2023. Prior to joining The New York Times, he had worked at tech companies like Splunk, Coursera, Ultimate Kronos Group, and Oracle.
According to his LinkedIn profile, McKinsey obtained his Master’s degree in Computer Science from the University of California, Berkeley in 2015 and had been actively involved in computer science education.
Court records indicate that before the incident, McKinsey and his wife were in a months-long dispute over divorce and child custody, with both parties filing allegations of domestic violence and abuse against each other during the past year.
McKinsey’s wife had filed for a protective order against him last year, accusing him of slapping their 6-year-old son’s face and causing bruising on her arm in 2018.
Police had also found a 2-year-old child alone at McKinsey’s residence while he was out shopping previously. The Alameda County prosecutor later charged McKinsey with two misdemeanor counts of child abuse to which he pleaded not guilty.
On the other hand, McKinsey had also filed for a restraining order against his wife, alleging years of abuse, including hitting him with a frying pan.
Media reports revealed that McKinsey transitioned from female to male in 2010. Court documents submitted by McKinsey indicated that his mother-in-law, Shili Chen, had engaged in conflicts with the family over the child’s clothing and had used discriminatory language towards both the child and McKinsey, referring to him as a “disgusting homosexual” and “pervert.” The conflicts also reflected Shili Chen’s discontent with McKinsey’s transgender identity.
McKinsey filed for divorce in December last year, which involved disputes over child support and custody, with a scheduled court appearance in the near future.
It is currently unclear if these family disputes directly relate to the shooting incident, and the police are still investigating the motive and the full sequence of events.
Dublin Sports Grounds is near the Dublin Police Department and library, with multiple sports fields and children’s play areas. The shooting incident, which occurred on a weekend afternoon, has shocked local residents. According to reports, this is the first homicide case in Dublin this year.