Just after midnight last night in America, convicted murderer Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed by firing squad. The third man since 1976 to be put to death by firing squad in the U.S., Gardener chose the method of death before it was outlawed in Utah in 2004.

Attorney General Mark Shurtleff announced the death over Twitter, stunning some people by using the internet social media site to make such an announcement. The Tweet read “I just gave the go ahead to Corrections Director to proceed with Gardner’s execution. May God grant him the mercy he denied his victims.”

Gardner was convicted in 1985. He surprised security guards by shooting a lawyer dead in an attempt to escape security officers in court, where he was facing a second murder charge.