“This is the first step”: Buffalo shooting survivor serves legal notice to Payton Gendron’s parents

Based on multiple reports, an employee who survived the racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket is seeking a court order to confront the 18-year-old Payton Gendron's parents under oath in anticipation of prosecuting them. The survivor's name is identified as Zaire Goodman.

Zaire Goodman and his mother, Zeneta Everhart, submitted the "pre-action disclosure" petition as a probable forerunner to a lawsuit against Paul and Pamela Gendron, parents of Payton Gendron, the shooting suspect.

The disclosure further requests that,

"the court identify any additional potential defendants in the case, as well as all digital equipment such as computers, cellphones, video games, and gadgets that may have been utilized to modify the weapon used in the attack, along with the internet browser history and metadata."

It also claims that,

"Gendrons failed to use reasonable care to restrain Payton Gendron from so viciously conducting himself as to intentionally harm others despite their knowledge of his propensity for not only racism but violence."

The document continued to accuse the Gendrons of,

"Carelessly, negligently, recklessly and illegally" supplying and permitting the suspect to possess weapons and body armor."

Payton Gendron's parents, Paul and Pamela Gendron of Conklin are being asked to deliver depositions by July 29 in state Supreme Court proceedings. They asked,

"to preserve their testimony, frame the complaint and, aid in identifying all possible defendants."

Zaire Goodman was one of three victims who survived being shot when a gunman opened fire on consumers and employees at a Tops Friendly Market on May 14. Lawyer Terrence Connors filed the motions on Goodman's behalf.

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Payton Gendron possessed firearms from the age of 16

According to court reports, Paul Gendron, father of Payton Gendron, provided his son with an assault rifle as a Christmas gift when he was just 16. In his sixth grade year, when he was allegedly suspended from school for uttering a racial slur, the accused has shown a penchant for racism.

The reports further stated that the defendant is accused of stabbing a cat multiple times, crushing its skull against the pavement, and finally decapitating it with a hatchet. He subsequently took photos of the incident and told Pamela Gendron about it, according to the records. On March 26, 2022, the suspect allegedly received a speeding ticket in the mail while on one of his visits to Buffalo.

On Thursday, Gendron was charged with a domestic act of terrorism, ten counts of first-degree murder, ten counts of second-degree murder, attempted murder, and weapon charges in Erie County. He has pleaded not guilty.

According to the charges,

"The victims were killed "in whole or in considerable part because of the perceived race and/or colour of such person or individuals, regardless of whether that belief or perception was correct,"

On June 8, Zeneta Everhart will be a participant in a panel that will appear before the House Oversight Committee during a hearing on gun violence.