South Carolina to execute prisoner by firing squad

Death row inmate Brad Sigmon prefers the squad over the electric chair or lethal injection, his lawyer said

Death chamber in Columbia, S.C., including the electric chair, right, and a firing squad chair, left.
Sigmon will be strapped to a metal chair with a hood over his head
(Image credit: South Carolina Department of Corrections / AP)

What happened

South Carolina is scheduled to execute double murderer Brad Sigmon by firing squad Friday evening, barring a last-minute intervention from the U.S. Supreme Court or Gov. Henry McMaster (R). Sigmon, 67, would be the first U.S. death row prisoner killed by firing squad since 2010 and the fourth since the death penalty was reinstated in 1977.

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.