politics
Idaho Opens Firing Squad Execution Chamber as First State to Adopt Method as Primary Option
Idaho completed retrofitting of a firing squad chamber at its maximum security prison south of Boise by the July 1 deadline. The state spent more than $1 million on the project, including $24,000 for AR-style rifles. Seven states now permit firing squads among their execution methods.
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Idaho opened a firing squad execution chamber at its maximum security prison south of Boise on July 1. The state department of corrections said it met the legislature's deadline to retrofit the facility. 308-caliber, scoped rifles. Three volunteer marksmen whose identities are known only to the prisons director and deputy will carry out executions.
Background on state methods Idaho switched from lethal injection after the February 2024 execution of Thomas Creech was halted when medical staff could not establish an IV line. The state has eight inmates on death row. Five states currently list firing squads among possible protocols: Idaho, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina, and Utah.
Florida and Tennessee may access the method if other protocols fail.
Historical record of firing squad use The U.S. has carried out 147 civilian firing squad executions since 1608. Of the four conducted since 2010, two raised questions about shot placement. In the 2010 Utah execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner, autopsy review by Dr Jonathan Groner found bullet wounds offset from the heart.
Groner stated the placement raised the possibility of implicit bias among shooters. Earlier cases include the 1879 execution of Wallace Wilkerson, who took 27 minutes to die after shots missed the heart, and the 1951 Utah execution of Eliseo Mares, where all four bullets entered the wrong side of the body.
