South Carolina Killer Set for Rare Firing Squad Execution

South Carolina is preparing to carry out one of the rarest and most controversial forms of capital punishment in the United States: execution by firing squad. Stephen Bryant, a convicted murderer who terrorized communities during an eight-day killing spree in 2004, is scheduled to die on Friday, November 14, at the Broad River Correctional Institution in Columbia. He would be the third inmate executed by firing squad in South Carolina this year and only the sixth person put to death by this method in modern U.S. history.

Authorities say Bryant, now 55, murdered three men and attempted to kill a fourth during a violent rampage that appeared to target victims at random. His most infamous crime was the murder of 62-year-old Willard “T.J.” Tietjen, whom he shot nine times inside Tietjen’s own home. After the killing, Bryant used the victim’s blood to scrawl a taunt to investigators on a nearby wall: “Victem 4 in 2 weeks. Catch me if u can.” The message set off a frantic manhunt and cemented the case as one of the most disturbing in South Carolina’s recent criminal history.

A Killing Spree With No Clear Motive

Bryant was on probation for burglary when the murders began in October 2004. According to court records, Tietjen had welcomed him into his home after Bryant claimed that his truck had overheated. The two reportedly spoke for hours before Bryant abruptly turned on him. Investigators later concluded that the attack was unprovoked.

Two other victims—36-year-old Clifton Gainey, a friend of Bryant, and 35-year-old Christopher Burgess, a stranger—were also fatally shot during the spree. A fourth man, 56-year-old Clinton Brown, survived after being shot in the back and left for dead.

Bryant ultimately pleaded guilty to all charges. A judge sentenced him to life in prison for two of the murders and imposed the death penalty for killing Tietjen. Prosecutors argued that the brutal nature of the crimes and the taunting message written in blood demonstrated a profound threat to public safety.

Why South Carolina Is Using the Firing Squad

South Carolina is one of a handful of states that now allow firing squads as an execution method. Under state law, inmates sentenced to death may choose between lethal injection, electrocution, or firing squad. If no choice is made, the electric chair is the default.

The revival of firing squads in the United States is rooted in a nationwide shortage of lethal injection drugs. Pharmaceutical companies have increasingly refused to supply the chemicals needed for executions, leaving states scrambling for alternatives. South Carolina legalized firing squads in 2021 after multiple executions were delayed for lack of lethal injection supplies.

Before this year, only Utah had used the method in the modern era—most recently in 2010. But in 2025, South Carolina carried out firing squad executions in both April and May. Officials have defended the practice as constitutional, while critics describe it as archaic and inhumane. One defense attorney who witnessed the April execution told reporters it was “barbaric” and “belongs in the darkest chapters of history.”

How the Execution Will Be Carried Out

According to South Carolina protocol, Bryant will be strapped into a metal chair inside the execution chamber. A hood will be placed over his head. Three volunteer corrections officers, whose identities remain confidential, will stand behind a wall and fire rifles through small openings aimed at the inmate’s heart. Only one rifle will contain a blank, allowing shooters to maintain some ambiguity about who fired the fatal shot.

If the execution proceeds as scheduled, Bryant will become the 42nd person executed in the U.S. this year—the highest annual total since 2012.

A Rare Method in a Record Year

The uptick in executions nationwide comes at a time when several states are moving to expand or revive older execution methods. In addition to South Carolina and Utah, Mississippi, Oklahoma, and Idaho have legalized firing squads. Idaho, which approved the method in 2023, is set to make firing squads its default execution method next year.

For many legal scholars, Bryant’s case highlights the complex intersection of constitutional law, public opinion, and states’ ongoing struggle to carry out capital sentences amid drug shortages. For victims’ families, the looming execution represents the end of a decades-long wait.

Bryant’s crimes left three men dead, a fourth permanently scarred, and a community haunted by the brutality and randomness of his violence. Nearly 21 years after the blood-written message that taunted police, South Carolina is preparing to close the case with one of the nation’s rarest—and most fiercely debated—forms of punishment.