Buffalo shooting suspect's prior threat sent him to mental hospital

The White gunman accused of committing a racist massacre at a Buffalo supermarket made threating comments that brought police to his high school last spring but he was never charged with a crime and had no further contact with law enforcement after his release from a hospital, officials said.

The revelation raised questions about whether his encounter with police and the mental health system was yet another missed opportunity to put a potential mass shooter under closer law enforcement scrutiny, get him help, or make sure he didn't have access to deadly firearms.

Authorities said Sunday that they were investigating the attack on predominantly Black shoppers and workers at the Tops Friendly Market as a potential federal hate crime or act of domestic terrorism.