James Seidel 
Brad Sigmon
Brad Sigmon Executed by Firing Squad in South Carolina, First Such Execution in U.S. Since 2010
By James Seidel | CC News Network
COLUMBIA, S.C. — South Carolina executed Brad Sigmon by firing squad Friday evening, marking the first execution of its kind in the U.S. in 15 years and only the fourth firing squad execution since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.
Sigmon, 67, was pronounced dead at 6:08 p.m., three minutes after being shot by a team of executioners at Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.
The execution was carried out in a newly renovated chamber, where Sigmon was strapped into a chair, a target placed over his heart, and a hood placed over his head. Three Corrections Department officers, standing 15 feet away, fired .308-caliber rounds designed to shatter on impact, causing instant cardiac failure.
Sigmon’s Final Words
In a statement read by his attorneys, Sigmon denounced the death penalty and urged his fellow Christians to oppose capital punishment.
“An eye for an eye was used as justification to the jury for seeking the death penalty,” Sigmon said. “At that time, I was too ignorant to know how wrong that was. Why? Because we no longer live under the Old Testament law, but now live under the New Testament.”
Supreme Court Denies Last-Minute Appeal
Hours before the execution, the U.S. Supreme Court denied Sigmon’s final appeal, which challenged the secrecy surrounding South Carolina’s lethal injection process. Sigmon, convicted in 2002 for beating his ex-girlfriend’s parents to death with a baseball bat, argued that he chose the firing squad only because he considered the other methods—lethal injection and the electric chair—to be even more inhumane.
His attorneys claimed that the state’s refusal to disclose details about lethal injection drugs left him with no real choice.
“He knows what the firing squad is going to do to his body,” said Gerald “Bo” King, Sigmon’s attorney. “He knows it’s going to break his bones, he knows it’s going to pulverize his organs. And it’s a measure of how impossible the choice was here.”
A Rare and Controversial Execution Method
Sigmon’s execution marks the first use of the firing squad in the United States since 2010, when Utah executed Ronnie Lee Gardner by the same method. South Carolina became the fourth state to legalize firing squad executions, following Utah, Oklahoma, and Mississippi.
Supporters of the firing squad argue that death is near-instant and potentially more humane than lethal injection or electrocution. However, critics call the method gruesome and archaic, with some comparing it to executions used in military justice, frontier-era punishments, and totalitarian regimes.
“This will be gruesome and barbaric,” said Randy Gardner, the brother of Ronnie Lee Gardner, who was executed by firing squad in Utah in 2010. Gardner carries autopsy photos of his brother to illustrate his opposition to capital punishment.
Inside the Execution Chamber
When the curtain opened inside South Carolina’s execution chamber, a small group of witnesses, including Sigmon’s attorney and victims’ family members, observed from behind bullet-resistant glass.
Sigmon wore a black jumpsuit and black slip-on shoes, his ankles shackled to the chair. Before a hood was placed over his head, he looked toward his attorney, who sat in the front row.
Moments later, three trained officers fired simultaneously.
Each was armed with .308-caliber Winchester 110-grain TAP Urban rounds, the same ammunition used by police snipers. The bullets, designed to fragment upon impact, struck Sigmon’s chest, shattering his ribs and destroying his heart.
Why South Carolina Turned to Firing Squad Executions
South Carolina revived firing squad executions in 2021 after years of stalled executions due to a lack of lethal injection drugs. The state’s last execution before Sigmon’s was in 2011, and death row cases had piled up as courts refused to schedule executions without available lethal injection drugs.
With pharmaceutical companies refusing to supply execution drugs, South Carolina lawmakers voted to legalize the firing squad as an alternative. The state also upgraded its execution chamber to include both the electric chair and the firing squad setup.
A bipartisan group of lawmakers, including U.S. Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, have pointed to research suggesting that firing squads may cause less suffering than lethal injections, which have led to botched executions in the past.
Sigmon’s Life on Death Row
Sigmon spent 23 years on South Carolina’s death row, where he was considered a model prisoner, according to his attorneys. He worked inside the prison daily, donated his commissary funds to other inmates, and was described as deeply religious in his final years.
Before his execution, Sigmon shared his last meal with fellow prisoners and wrote final letters to loved ones.
South Carolina has 32 inmates currently on death row, and 46 people have been executed in the state since 1976, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
What Happens Next
Sigmon’s execution is likely to renew debates over capital punishment in South Carolina and the United States. The case has already sparked legal challenges, with defense attorneys arguing that the state’s methods of execution remain unconstitutional.
With no clemencies ever granted in South Carolina, the state is expected to proceed with future executions, relying on its firing squad, electric chair, or newly sourced lethal injection drugs.
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Final Thoughts
Sigmon’s execution marks a historic moment in South Carolina’s death penalty history, reigniting controversy over capital punishment and the ethics of execution methods. With the firing squad now an active method of execution, legal and political battles over the future of the death penalty in the state are only beginning.
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