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Nation's first firing squad execution in 14 years in Utah
Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad at Utah State Prison in Draper after choosing the method over lethal injection. The lethal judgment, delivered at 12 17 a.m., ended a 14 year gap since the last U S inmate killed by a firing squad, amid global protests and domestic debate on capital punishment. Gardner, a twice convicted killer, faced observers including nine journalists as five police officers fired through a gunport with one blank round to mask the shooter. Gardner did not address the court before the hooding and execution, expressing no final statement. The case traces to his 1985 conviction for fatally shooting an attorney during a courthouse escape attempt and a 1984 murder charge. The firing squad remains a historically Utah option, though later abolished, with previous executions by the method detailed and noted reactions from international bodies and civil liberties groups.