South Carolina kills death-row prisoner in state's first firing squad execution

A South Carolina man convicted in a 2002 double murder is set die Friday by firing squad, a rarely used execution method never before carried out by the state.

COLUMBIA, S.C. — A South Carolina man convicted in a double murder in 2002 died Friday by firing squad, a rarely used execution method never before carried out by the state.

Brad Sigmon, 67, was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m. at Broad River Correctional Institution, a spokeswoman for the South Carolina Department of Corrections told reporters.

He was the oldest inmate executed by the state.

The spokeswoman, Chrysti Shain, said the three-person squad opened fire at 6:05 p.m. using .308 Winchester rifles.

Media witnesses said Sigmon, outfitted in a black jumpsuit, was strapped into a chair with his ankles shackled and what appeared to be a strap over his head. He had a rectangle with a bullseye placed on his heart and a hood over his head before gunshots rang out at 6:05 p.m., they said.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/south-carolina-set-execute-brad-sigmon-firing-squad-rcna194955

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