Draper , Utah ( CNN ) -- Convicted killer Ronnie Lee Gardner was executed early Friday by firing squad , the Utah Department of Corrections said . Gardner , 49 , is only the third person in 33 years to die by firing squad in the United States . He was killed at 12:20 a.m. MST ( 2:20 a.m . ET ) , a Corrections Department spokesman said . A hood was placed over Gardner 's head and a paper target pinned to his chest . He was heavily restrained as a five-person firing squad took aim at the target and shot him , witnesses said . Journalists who witnessed the shooting said it happend quickly . One reporter said she noticed that Gardner moved after he was shot . `` It was over pretty quickly , '' said Cheryl Worsley , a local radio reporter . `` It was cleaner than I expected . It was fast . But he moved . He moved a little bit , and to some degree that bothers me . '' Outside the prison in Draper Utah , there was a candlelight vigil attended by members of Gardner 's family . `` He did things bad in the past , but now he realizes what he did and he changed the last couple of years , '' said his granddaughter Darian Gardner , breaking into tears . `` I got to know him the last couple of years . It sucks when you have to say goodbye to someone that is like your best friend . '' The execution came after Gardner 's last-ditch efforts to save himself had failed . The U.S. Supreme Court rejected a request Thursday to temporarily stay the execution . Utah Gov . Gary Herbert rejected two appeals by Gardner 's attorneys to stop the execution , saying he had every chance to present his case . Gardner , 49 , was convicted for the shooting death of attorney Michael Burdell during a botched escape attempt from custody in 1985 at a Salt Lake City , Utah , courthouse . Among the claims Gardner raised in his appeals is that he has been a death-row inmate for too long . `` He asserts that executing him now , after nearly 25 years on death-row in Utah , so lacks retributive or deterrent value that it violates the Eighth Amendment , '' Andrew Parnes , Gardner 's lawyer , told the high court . A federal judge late Tuesday declined to block the execution , after Gardner claimed the procedures related to a two-day commutation hearing held by the state Board of Pardons and Parole last week violated his civil rights . The parole board Monday declined to commute Gardner 's sentence to life in prison , and the Utah Supreme Court on Tuesday also denied his request for a stay . Gardner was the third person to die by rifle fire , all in Utah , since the Supreme Court restored the death penalty in 1976 . He had a long history of escapes and was slipped a gun before he fatally shot Burdell on April 2 , 1985 . He was at the courthouse for a pre-trial hearing in the 1984 slaying of Melvyn Otterstrom , who was killed at the Salt Lake City bar where he was working to earn extra money . Corrections officials announced Gardner had consumed his last meal Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. , and chose to fast prior to the anticipated execution . His dinner included steak , lobster , 7-Up , apple pie and vanilla ice cream . CNN 's Ashley Hayes and Bill Mears contributed to this report .
NEW : Witnesses said the execution was fast . Andrew Parnes executed by firing squad . the Utah Supreme Court earlier denied stay of execution appeal . third person killed by firing squad in the United States in Thursday .