Execution by firing squad is a method of capital punishment historically common in the military and wartime, chosen because firearms are readily available and a shot to a vital organ usually kills quickly. The procedure typically involves multiple shooters firing simultaneously at a target placed over the heart, with the condemned blindfolded or hooded, and often takes place at dawn—giving rise to the phrase "shot at dawn." To ease the psychological burden, some squads include blank or dummy cartridges (as in the 2010 execution of Ronnie Lee Gardner in Utah), allowing shooters plausible deniability. A notable modern example occurred in 2025 when Brad Sigmon was executed in South Carolina, with an AP reporter describing the sudden rifle crack and the target disappearing as his body flinched, with death declared at 6:08 p.m. The practice has ancient roots, with Saint Sebastian (c. AD 288) and King Edmund the Martyr (869/870) being early victims of archery-based equivalents, and it is distinct from executions by a single shot to the back of the head. In military courts, it has been used for crimes like desertion and mutiny, and notable figures such as French Marshals Michel Ney and Joachim Murat were afforded the privilege of giving the order to fire themselves.