Brad Sigmon, who admitted to killing his ex-girlfriend's parents, said he chose to die by bullets because he considered the other choices offered by the state to be worse.

A convicted double murderer has been executed by firing squad, the first such execution in the United States since 2010, according to the South Carolina Department of Corrections.

A South Carolina man who killed his ex-girlfriend’s parents with a baseball bat was executed by firing squad Friday, the first U.S. prisoner in 15 years to die by that method, which he saw as preferable to the electric chair or lethal injection.

As South Carolina prepared to carry out the first execution by firing squad in the U.S. since 2010, Catholic activists against the death penalty had sought clemency from that state's governor.

A South Carolina man has been executed by firing squad, becoming the first U.S. prisoner in 15 years to die by this method.

Only three people have been executed by firing squad in the U.S. since the death penalty was reinstated in 1976.

Idaho Gov. Brad Little signed a bill on Wednesday making death by firing squad the preferred method for executions, and death by lethal injection the second preferred method.