Firing..

 

June 18, 2010, Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed at Utah State Prison, for killing an attorney during a courthouse escape attempt.

Gardner sat in a chair, sandbags around him and a target pinned over his heart, according to The Associated Press. Five prison staffers drawn from a pool of volunteers fired from 25 feet away with .30-caliber rifles. Gardner was pronounced dead two minutes later.

A blank cartridge was loaded into one rifle without anyone knowing which. That’s partly done to enable those bothered later by their participation to believe they may not have fired a fatal bullet.

The renewed interest in using a firing squad as a means of execution comes as states search for alternatives to lethal injections after pharmaceutical companies barred the use of their drugs.