South Carolina Prepares for Possible First Execution by Firing Squad
South Carolina has scheduled the execution of Richard Bernard Moore, 57. He faces a choice between the electric chair and the firing squad, two options available to death row prisoners after legislators altered the state’s capital punishment law last year.
Landwebs
South Carolina has scheduled its first execution after corrections officials finished updating the death chamber to prepare for executions by firing squad, reports the Associated Press. Richard Bernard Moore, a 57-year-old man who has spent more than two decades on death row after he was convicted of killing a convenience store clerk, could face a choice between the electric chair and the firing squad, two options available to death row prisoners after legislators altered the state’s capital punishment law last year.
In the case of a firing squad execution, three volunteer Corrections Department employed shooters will have rifles loaded with live ammunition, with their weapons trained on the inmate’s heart. A hood will be placed over the head of the inmate, who will be given the opportunity to make a last statement. South Carolina is one of eight states to still use the electric chair and one of four to allow a firing squad, according to the Washington-based nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center.
