FIRING SQUAD: THE RARE METHOD

Another rare form of Capital punishment is the method of firing squad. It is considered rare because of its outcome is not always death; there have been rare cases in which the prisoners actually lived through the execution. This method still remains the main method of execution in Idaho. The most recent use of this method was in Utah, 1996. A prisoner by the name of John Albert Taylor was executed by his own choosing.

In the method the prisoner is bound to a chair with leather straps across the prisoner’s body, legs, and arms. The chair is surrounded by sand-bags to absorb the inmate’s blood. The inmates face is covered with a dark or black hood completely. Then a doctor is ask to locate the heart of the prisoner heart and covers it with a white cloth, or a red target sign. From about 20 feet away, 5 shooters are given 30. Caliber rifles with single fire. One of the five shooter’s gun is loaded with blank rounds. Each shooter aims through a slot in a canvas at the inmate, and fires until inmate is pronounced dead.

http://deathpenaltycurriculum.org/teacher/c/about/methods/firingsquad.htm