A mother shopping at an Idaho Walmart was killed when her toddler in a shopping cart reached into the woman's purse and accidentally fired the handgun kept in it, authorities say.
Veronica J. Rutledge, 29, of Blackfoot, Idaho, was shopping in the Hayden Walmart with four children when her 2-year-old son, sitting in the shopping cart, reached into the purse, causing a small-caliber handgun to go off, said Kootenai County Sheriff's Office spokesman Lt. Stu Miller.
By the time deputies and emergency responders arrived, Rutledge was dead, he said.
"It appears to be a pretty tragic accident," he said.
Rutledge, who had traveled to Hayden from Blackfoot, Idaho, to visit family for the holidays, had a concealed-weapons permit issued in Spokane, Wash., authorities said.
Idaho does recognize concealed-weapons permits issued by other states, they said.
Both Veronica Rutledge and her husband were avid hunters and gun enthusiasts.
Rutledge's gun was in a special purse given to her by her husband as a Christmas gift, with a custom zippered pocket designed to contain a concealed weapon.
"It was designed for that purpose -- to carry a concealed firearm," her father-in-law Terry Rutledge told The Washington Post. "And you had to unzip a compartment to find the handgun."
Veronica Rutledge had taken her son and three nieces to the Walmart to spend some gift cards, and left her purse unattended for a moment in the shopping cart with the boy, Terry Rutledge said.
"An inquisitive 2-year-old boy reached into the purse, unzipped the compartment, found the gun and shot his mother in the head," he said. "It's a terrible, terrible incident."
When the shooting occurred Tuesday the Walmart was immediately evacuated and closed, then reopened Wednesday morning.
A Walmart spokeswoman called the shooting a "very sad and tragic accident."
"We are working closely with the local sheriff's department while they investigate what happened," spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan said.
Terry Rutledge said his son has been devastated by what happened.
"My son is [in] terrible [shape]," he said. "He has a 2-year-old boy right now who doesn't know where his mom is and he'll have to explain why his mom isn't coming home.
"And then, later on his life, as he questions it more, he'll again have to explain what happened, so we'll have to relive this several times over."
