BANGOR – As Penobscot County Sheriff Glenn Ross sat in his office Wednesday talking to a reporter about his frustrations and the risks involved with an increasing number of mentally ill people landing in county jails, a worker interrupted him and whispered in his ear.

Ross apologized and dashed to the jail where he helped deal with two inmates who both had attempted suicide in opposite ends of the jail within minutes of one another.

His frustration had increased when he discussed the situation Wednesday night.

“This isn’t going to be the last time,” he said. “It’s just unbelievable.”

Around 1 p.m. an inmate yelled for help when he saw 36-year-old John Turner of Bangor trying to strangle himself with a shoelace. Correction workers responded and were able to control him. Rescue crews from Bangor Fire Department arrived and checked Turner out and found him to be physically fine.

Before the rescue team could leave the prison, however, a guard on routine 15-minute rounds in the maximum security unit of the jail found 26-year-old Frederick Olsen of Bangor hanging from his cell door by a bedsheet.

Ross said Olsen received immediate CPR and because the rescue squad was in the building he received immediate medical intervention. Olsen’s breathing and pulse were restored, Ross said. Olsen remained in critical condition at Eastern Maine Medical Center on Wednesday night.

Turner had only arrived at the jail Wednesday, arrested earlier on a warrant from Hancock County for unpaid fines and fees on charges of assault and disorderly conduct.

Olsen, who Ross said had been in the jail many times, had been in PCJ since Aug. 25 for robbery, assault and theft. He was being held in the maximum security ward.

Ross said both suicide attempts would be investigated thoroughly but said his preliminary investigation indicated his staff did everything right in both cases.

“It might be easy for people to say that our staff must be doing something wrong, but unless we [observe the individual inmates] 24 hours a day, these things are going to occur,” he said. “When these things happen, my first concern is for the inmate and my second is did we do our jobs and in this case it appears we did. We even have the videotape that shows the guard making his rounds every 15 minutes.”

Ross said it was unclear where Turner got the shoelaces, as they are not allowed in jail. He said that matter was under investigation.

He said both inmates had undergone a standard mental health assessment and neither assessment turned up any concerns of suicide.

“This is very difficult on the other inmates and the staff and a lot of things went right here, but it shows that even when a lot of things are done right the outcome can still be bad,” Ross said.

The last suicide at PCJ was one year ago, when 37-year-old Gardner Whalen of Argyle hanged himself with a bedsheet minutes after a guard checked his cell.

The State Department of Corrections recently ordered the Waldo County Jail to cut the number of inmates it boards by almost half in response to two suicides at that jail last summer.