South Carolina is set to execute inmate Mikal Mahdi by firing squad on Friday, making him the fifth prisoner to be killed in less than eight months in the state. Mahdi was sentenced to death 20 years ago for killing an off-duty police officer. He chose the firing squad method over lethal injection or the electric chair. This will be the second time in five weeks that South Carolina will carry out an execution by firing squad.
The decision to use the firing squad was made due to the difficulties in obtaining lethal injection drugs. South Carolina lawmakers believed it to be a quick and humane method of execution. Mahdi’s final appeal was rejected by the state Supreme Court this week.
The execution will involve Mahdi being strapped into a chair with a target over his heart, followed by the firing squad shooting him from 15 feet away. They will use live bullets that shatter on impact. Mahdi’s death marks the end of a busy time in South Carolina’s death chamber, with several more inmates awaiting execution.
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