Execution methods in US: From firing squad to nitrogen gas

Throughout history, the states have used five different execution methods: lethal injection, electrocution, lethal gas, firing squad and hanging. 

Here’s a look at how the U.S. has executed people throughout history: 

Executions in the U.S.

The backstory:

Executions were effectively halted nationwide in 1972 under the landmark Supreme Court ruling in Furman v. Georgia, which ruled the death penalty cruel and unusual punishment and therefore unconstitutional. But the Supreme Court lifted its ban on capital punishment in 1976.

By the numbers:

1,614 men and women have been executed in the U.S. since 1976, as of March 19, 2025.

Thirteen more deaths are scheduled for 2025, according to Death Penalty Information Center, a Washington, D.C.-based nonprofit center.

Executions reached the highest level in American history in the 1930s, when an average of 167 people were executed per year.

Now, the average has been less than 30 executions for several years in a row. 

Big picture view:

Over recent decades, the number of executions nationally has declined sharply amid legal battles, a shortage of lethal injection drugs and waning public support. That has led a majority of states to either abolish or pause carrying out the death penalty.

Hanging 

Big picture view:

Hanging was once the primary execution method until about the 1890s, and has only been carried out a handful of times in the modern era - in 1993, 1994 and 1996. 

A person was blindfolded and their hands and legs were secured before a noose was placed around their neck and they fell through a trap door.

Firing squad execution

Big picture view:

Firing squads are rarely used in the modern era. 

For this method, an inmate is usually bound to a chair and is shot through the heart by a group of prison staffers standing 20 to 25 feet away.

By the numbers:

Since 1977, only four inmates have been executed by firing squad. 

On March 7, Brad Sigmon became the first person executed by firing squad in the U.S. in 15 years when he was put to death in South Carolina. The other three executions by firing squad took place in Utah.

RELATED: Executions by firing squad resume: A brief history

What is electrocution? 

An electrocution execution is carried out by strapping a person to a chair and placing electrodes on their head and leg, through which a jolt of between 500 and 2,000 volts is pulsed through their body. 

Big picture view:

Use of electrocution has been down since 2000. Nine states authorize the use of electrocution, including Alabama, Arkansas, Florida, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, South Carolina and Tennessee.

What is lethal injection?

Big picture view:

Lethal injection is carried out by strapping an inmate to a gurney and injecting his or her body with a deadly mixture of drugs. 

Dig deeper:

Even though it is the preferred method of execution in the modern era, it is not without problems or controversies. 

Common problems include delays in finding suitable veins, needles becoming clogged or disengaged and problems with securing enough of the required drugs from pharmaceutical companies.

The backstory:

It was first adopted in 1977 in Oklahoma as a means of execution, and the first person to die by lethal injection was Charles Brooks Jr. in Texas in 1982.  

By the numbers:

1,428 lethal injections have been carried out since capital punishment was reinstated in 1976.

Gas chamber

The backstory:

From 1979 - 1999, 11 inmates were executed using this method, in which a prisoner would be strapped to a chair in an airtight chamber before it was filled with cyanide gas.

Nitrogen gas

Most recently, methods of using lethal gas to carry out an execution have shifted. 

Big picture view:

Alabama first used nitrogen gas in 2024 to carry out an execution, marking the first time a new method was used in the U.S. since lethal injection was introduced in 1982. 

It is carried out by placing a mask over a prisoner’s face and pumping in the nitrogen gas, which deprives a person of oxygen. 

By the numbers:

Five executions have taken place in the U.S. by way of nitrogen gas as of March 19, 2025, in Alabama and Louisiana. 

Crime and Public SafetyU.S.