For the first time in 15 years, a man was executed by firing squad in the United States. Brad Sigmon, 67, was put to death on Friday at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, South Carolina.
Convicted of murdering his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat in 2001, Sigmon’s execution marks a significant event in U.S. history. According to South Carolina prison spokeswoman Chrysti Shain, the fatal shots were fired at 6:05 PM (2305 GMT), with a physician pronouncing him dead three minutes later.
Witnesses to the execution described the scene as Sigmon, wearing a black jumpsuit, was strapped to a chair in the death chamber, a small red bullseye marking where the shots would be aimed.
In his final statement, read by his attorney Gerald “Bo” King, Sigmon conveyed a message of love and urged Christians to advocate for the abolition of the death penalty. A hood was placed over his head before members of the firing squad, comprised of volunteers from the South Carolina Department of Corrections, took aim from about 15 feet away through a slit in the wall.
“The shots were all fired simultaneously,” reported Anna Dobbins of WYFF News 4. “There was a splash of blood when the bullets struck.”
King characterized the execution as horrifying and violent, labeling it a bloody spectacle. “It is unfathomable that in 2025, South Carolina would execute one of its citizens in such a gruesome manner,” he remarked.
Sigmon had been given the option of lethal injection, the electric chair, or the firing squad. His attorney stated that Sigmon opted for the firing squad, feeling he was in an “impossible” situation. “Choosing lethal injection posed the risk of a prolonged death like those endured by the last three men executed in South Carolina since September,” King explained. He also noted that the electric chair would result in a torturous death, dubbing both alternatives “monstrous.”
The last firing squad execution in the United States occurred in Utah back in 2010, with earlier cases in 1996 and 1977. Since the Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty in 1976, lethal injection has predominantly been the method of execution, though several states have sought alternatives due to concerns surrounding lethal injection protocols.
Recently, Alabama has conducted four executions using nitrogen gas, a method that has drawn condemnation from UN experts as cruel and inhumane.
Currently, five states—South Carolina, Utah, Idaho, Mississippi, and Oklahoma—permit firing squads as an alternative execution method. In 2024, there were 25 executions, and so far this year, six have taken place.
The death penalty has been abolished in 23 U.S. states, while California, Oregon, and Pennsylvania have imposed moratoriums. Former President Donald Trump, a vocal supporter of capital punishment, has called for an expansion of its application for the “vilest crimes.”
