Investigators with the Catoosa County Sheriff’s Department and Georgia Bureau of Investigation continue to examine circumstances that led to a county inmate’s death early Friday morning.

According to Sheriff Phil Summers, just after midnight Aug. 15, an inmate in a two-man cell at the Catoosa County Detention Center alerted guards that his cellmate was attempting to hang himself.

Detention officers responded immediately and performed CPR on the victim, who was transported by ambulance to Hutcheson Medical Center where he was pronounced dead a short time later from self-inflicted injuries sustained in the hanging attempt, Summers said.

Authorities were withholding the victim’s name Friday afternoon, pending notification of the victim’s family.

“The preliminary investigation indicates that the victim utilized the bed linen, which was tied to a security window and around the victim’s neck,” Summers said. “The preliminary evidence also appears that the incident was self-inflicted and no foul play was involved in regards to the other inmates housed with the detention center.”

The 34-year-old man, who cited residences in both Catoosa County and East Ridge, Tenn., had been incarcerated at the jail since June 1 on charges of bringing stolen property into the state and theft by taking, Summers said. East Ridge, Tenn. authorities also had an arrest hold on the man for motor vehicle theft, he said.

“This guy moved around a lot. He had a crime record from across the country,” Summers said.

State law dictates that detention personnel must inspect cellblocks at least every 30 minutes, Summers said. A Catoosa officer inspecting the cellblock minutes before the suicide attempt actually spoke to the inmate, who showed no signs of depression or anxiety, Summers said.

“Officers had been in that cell block less than 20 minutes before this occurred,” he said.

The sheriff said he is satisfied with the jail staff’s response, and that proper jail procedures were followed in the time leading up to the incident.

“Detention officers, including a trained EMT, were inside that cell within two minutes of the alert,” he said. “Everything was in place to deal with this situation.”

Summers said all jail personnel, and inmates assigned to the cellblock were interviewed about what transpired. Detectives are questioning the man’s cellmate, who has not been named a suspect in the death, the sheriff said.

“Everything is consistent that it was self-inflicted,” Summers said. “He did this to himself.”

The inmate’s body was taken to the GBI crime lab in Atlanta for analysis, Summers said.

Under state law, any time an inmate dies in police custody, a coroner’s inquest is conducted following an official investigation to determine cause of death, and if any other individuals share responsibility in the victim’s death.

The sheriff said this was the first suicide death inside a Catoosa County inmate housing facility in more than 30 years.

“I guess we’ve been lucky as long as it’s been without anything like this happening,” he said