South Carolina to Carry Out First U.S. Firing Squad Execution in 15 Years

South Carolina is set to execute a convicted murderer by firing squad today, marking the first use of the method in the United States in 15 years.

Brad Sigmon, 67, who was sentenced to death for the 2001 murders of his ex-girlfriend’s parents, William and Gladys Larke, chose the firing squad over South Carolina’s other available execution methods—the electric chair and lethal injection. His legal appeals were exhausted on Wednesday when the state’s Supreme Court denied his final request for a stay of execution.

Sigmon will be strapped into a chair, hooded, and positioned before three volunteer marksmen who will fire live rounds from 15 feet away, aiming at a target over his heart.

His attorney, Bo King, argued that Sigmon faced an impossible choice, describing the firing squad as a method that would “break the bones in his chest and destroy his heart” while warning that lethal injection could result in a prolonged and agonising death.

Sigmon’s execution is set for 6 p.m. local time at the South Carolina Department of Corrections in Columbia.

Opposition to Sigmon’s execution has been mounting, including from Randy Gardner, whose brother, Ronnie Lee Gardner, was the last person executed by firing squad in the U.S. in 2010.