South Carolina has killed death row inmate Brad Sigmon, 67, in the first firing squad execution in the U.S. in 15 years. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Sigmon’s death marks the fourth firing squad execution in U.S. history — since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976. The last firing squad execution in the U.S. was in 2010.
According to the South Carolina Department of Corrections, death row inmate Brad Sigmon chose the firing squad over the two other state-approved methods of execution. They included the more common lethal injection and electric chair executions. During a press conference on Friday (March 7), officials said shots rang out at 6:05 p.m. ET.
However, witnesses were unable to see the guns. A physician then pronounced Sigmon had at 6:08 p.m. ET. Sigmon — who became the oldest person executed by South Carolina — died in front of several witnesses including his legal team and a few media personnel.
Witness Explains Brad Sigmon’s Firing Squad Execution In South Carolina Prison
One witness, Jeffrey Collins, a reporter for The Associated Press, recalled the incident. At a news conference, he said that Sigmon wore a black jumpsuit and was “completely strapped into” a chair. Collins said witnesses “involuntarily flinched” when the shooting began. He said that “a small red stain” appeared on Sigmon’s chest.
One of Sigmon’s attorneys, Gerald “Bo” King, spoke after his execution. He said his client’s “death was horrifying and violent.” He explained:
“He chose the firing squad knowing that three bullets would shatter his bones and destroy his heart. But that was the only choice he had, after the state’s three executions by lethal injection inflicted prolonged and potentially torturous deaths on men he loved like brothers.”
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King described his client as “a man who has devoted himself to his faith, and to ministry and service to all around him” who committed no acts of violence during his 23 years in prison. He further claimed that the state failed to provide information about drugs used in the lethal injection. King continued:
“Brad only wanted assurances that these drugs were not expired, or diluted, or spoiled — what any of us would want to know about the medication we take, or the food we eat, much less the means of our death.”
Sigmon was convicted of the 2001 bloody deaths of his ex-girlfriend’s parents, David Larke, 62, and Gladys Larke, 59. In the murders, he used a baseball bat. Sigmon later kidnapped his ex-girlfriend, Rebecca Barbare, at gunpoint, but she managed to escape.
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