COLUMBIA, South Carolina – A South Carolina death row inmate met his fate on Friday night in a rare and controversial manner – by a firing squad. This method of execution, though legal, is seen by many Americans as cruel and inhumane. Brad Sigmon, 67, made the decision last month to face the firing squad after being convicted in 2001 for the murder of his ex-girlfriend’s parents. Sigmon also attempted to kidnap his ex-girlfriend at gunpoint, but she managed to escape unharmed.
In a landmark event on Friday evening at 6 p.m. ET, South Carolina witnessed its inaugural firing squad execution as Sigmon was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. This method of execution was newly legalized in the state in 2021. Governor Henry McMaster denied Sigmon’s request for clemency, continuing the state’s decades-long streak of no clemency being granted in death penalty cases since its reinstatement.
The South Carolina Supreme Court also turned down Sigmon’s appeal to postpone the execution, citing his lack of information about the lethal injection option. Sigmon’s attorney, Gerald King, stated that his client, despite recognizing the violent nature of a firing squad execution, believed it to be the best available option compared to alternative methods like electrocution or lethal injection.
Since 1976, only three executions by firing squad have taken place in the United States, all in Utah. Sigmon’s execution marks the first time in over 15 years that an inmate has been shot to death as a form of execution, highlighting the rarity of this mode of capital punishment in the modern era.
With 34 instances in the nation’s history, firing squad executions hold a 0% botched rate, faring better than methods like lethal injection, which has a 7.12% rate of error. Before Sigmon, the most recent firing squad execution occurred in 2010 in Utah.
Five states, including South Carolina, have authorized the use of firing squads under certain circumstances. Each state has its own regulations and methods for carrying out such executions. Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Utah, along with South Carolina, maintain provisions for the firing squad as an alternative mode of capital punishment.
