JARRATT, Va.-- A stoically defiant John Allen Muhammad, the sniper who terrified the Washington area in 2002 as he orchestrated 10 fatal and seemingly random shootings, was executed Tuesday night by injection in Virginia's death chamber.

Muhammad, 48, was pronounced dead at 9:11 p.m., said Larry Traylor, spokesman for the Virginia Department of Corrections, speaking in a steady drizzle outside the Greensville Correctional Center.

Asked for last words, Muhammad, wearing a blue shirt and denim jeans, declined to speak and "did not acknowledge us," Traylor said. The execution took place without incident, he said, with Muhammad displaying no emotion.

Issuing a statement on behalf of Muhammad's family and lawyers, attorney Jonathan Sheldon said they "deeply sympathize with the families and loved ones" of the victims, and offered "prayers for a better future" for those left behind.