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.

Brad Keith Sigmon called for an end to the death penalty before he was executed by firing squad in South Carolina on Friday. The death penalty is a legal form of criminal punishment in 27 states. Governors in California, Pennsylvania, Oregon and Ohio have currently placed executions on hold.

South Carolina has killed death row inmate Brad Sigmon, 67, in the first firing squad execution in the U.S. in 15 years. According to the Death Penalty Information Center, Sigmon’s death marks the fourth firing squad execution in U.