Firing squad execution would be first in U.S. since 2010

The South Carolina Department of Corrections planned to kill convicted double murderer Brad Sigmon on Friday evening by firing squad. If carried out, the execution will be first of its kind in the state, a method not used in the United States for 15 years.

Sigmon was convicted in 2002 of fatally bludgeoning his ex-girlfriend’s parents the year before. The 67-year-old personally chose the firing squad over the state's other approved execution methods of lethal injection and electric chair.

Sigmon appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court, which had not responded to the petition by Friday morning. Sigmon also submitted a clemency plea to South Carolina Gov. Henry McMaster—as of noon Friday, the plea had not been answered. South Carolina is one of five U.S. states that allow firing squad executions along with Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah. All three of the firing squad executions that took place since the late 1970s were carried out in Utah, with the last in 2010, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.

Why firing squad? Sigmon’s lawyer, Gerald “Bo” King, described firing squad as the only option for his client. South Carolina’s electric chair is ancient and would cook him alive, King said in a statement last month. Sigmon opted against lethal injection because the state would not answer his questions about the drugs that would be injected with, King said in another interview. King has questioned the pain of death by lethal injection and the potency of the drugs used. Sigmon knows the firing squad will destroy his body, but the alternative could mean an excruciating 20-minute death, King added.

What does a 21st-century firing squad execution look like? A three-member firing squad team will carry out the execution behind a wall with an opening for the rifles to fire through, according to a 2022 news release from prison officials. The inmate will be given the chance for his last words before being strapped to a chair with a hood over his head. A member of the execution team will place an aim point over the prisoner’s heart before the warden reads the execution order. Once the warden finishes reading, the team will fire and the prisoner will be declared dead by a doctor, according to the release.