An employee who survived a racially motivated mass shooting at a Buffalo supermarket sought a court order to question the 18-year-old gunman's parents under oath in anticipation of filing a lawsuit against them.
The filings in state Supreme Court ask that Payton Gendron's parents, Paul and Pamela Gendron of Conklin, provide depositions by July 29 "to preserve their testimony, frame the complaint, and aid in identifying all possible defendants."
The filings also ask for evidence of the crime to be preserved.
Lawyer Terrence Connors filed the requests on behalf of Zaire Goodman, one of three people who survived being shot when the gunman opened fire on shoppers and employees at a Tops Friendly Market on May 14.
Ten black people died in the attack.
Erie County District Attorney John Flynn said that only the gunman appeared to be criminally liable.
The shooter is charged in a 25-count indictment with hate-motivated domestic terrorism, first-degree murder, attempted murder and murder as a hate crime.
He has pleaded not guilty.
"No one else is on my radar to be charged," Mr Flynn said after he was arraigned.
But lawyers for the victims' families have said they are considering action against social media platforms, the gun maker and anyone else they believe may bear responsibility.
Mr Goodman's filing, first reported by The Buffalo News, accuses Mr Gendron's parents of ignoring warning signs and "remain[ing] wilfully blind to their son's propensity for vicious conduct."
Among the warning signs, it said, was an incident where the gunman was taken to a hospital by police after he said on a high school assignment that his future plans included "murder-suicide."
The parents could not be reached by phone on Friday and their voice mailbox was full and unable to accept new messages.
In an online diary taken from the chat platform Discord, the gunman detailed his assault plans, which he carried out using a Bushmaster rifle and wearing body armour he had purchased.
He wrote that neither his parents nor his brothers were aware of his plans, but that he feared they would find out.
Mr Goodman's court filing seeks preservation of mobile phones and computers used by the gunman, his internet browser history, travel and school records, receipts for firearms and ammunition, video game consoles and other items in his parents' control.
ABC/wires
