The next day, after the order issued by Bolivian President René Barrientos that they should both be killed had been confirmed, the commanding officer sent an execution squad consisting of three soldiers into the schoolhouse. The soldiers entered the room where Willy was being held first and riddled him with several bursts of machine gun fire. Before dying, Willy managed to cry out, "I am proud to die next to Che!"[4] These were probably the last words Che Guevara heard, because he was executed in similar fashion only a few seconds later.