Execution by shooting

Although Brazil abolished capital punishment in peacetime, it can be used for certain crimes in wartime, such as betrayal, conspiracy, mutiny, unauthorised retreat in battles, and theft of equipment or supplies in a military base.

This method was named "unexpected shot on close range" and it was taken great care that the execution was conducted without officers having to handle the prisoner manually in order to prevent any stress reactions.

In 20th-century communist states, shooting was a standard form of execution of civilian and military prisoners alike, with the Soviet Union setting an example of the single-executioner approach.

This method was widely used during the Great Purges of the late 1930s at locations outside the major cities, e.g. Krasny Bor near Petrozavodsk, against purportedly anti-social elements, "counter-revolutionaries" and other enemies of the people.

Serial killers Andrei Chikatilo and Sergey Golovkin were executed in this way in 1994 and 1996, respectively, the latter just before Russia discontinued capital punishment as part of its accession to the Council of Europe.