Shooting suspect does not appear to have been forcibly committed for mental health treatment, official says

During the news conference, Maine Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mike Sauschuck said there are still questions around the motive of Lewiston shooting rampage suspect Robert Card.

"Clearly, there's a mental health component to this," he said.

Sauschuck said more research needs to be done in trying to get access to certain records on Card, as officials seek to answer more questions about his access to guns.

Sauschuck emphasized that the law makes a distinction between volunteering to seek mental health treatment and being forcibly committed — and a distinction between being required to receive a mental health evaluation, versus forced to receive treatment.

"We have not seen to this point, I have not seen to this point, that Mr. Card was forcibly committed for treatment. And if that didn't happen ... you can go into a firearms dealer who does all of their work, and the background check is not going to ping that this individual is prohibited," he said.

He added, "Just because there appears to be a mental health nexus to this scenario, the vast, vast, vast majority of people, the vast majority of people with a mental health diagnosis will never hurt anybody."

Some background: The gun that investigators believe Card used to kill 18 people and wound 13 others was purchased legally just days before he was hospitalized and ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation due to a mental health episode at a military base where he served, multiple law enforcement sources told CNN Friday.