Tragedy struck in a Hayden, Idaho Walmart on Tuesday when a toddler shot and killed his mother.
Police say Veronica J Rutledge, 29, was shot after the toddler retrieved her gun out of her unattended purse.
Rutledge was shopping with three other children inside the store at around 10:20am, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller told the Associated Press. The wife and mother was from Blackfoot, and was in Hayden visiting family members.
Authorities confirmed that Rutledge had a concealed carry permit for the small-caliber weapon.
The toddler fired one shot in what family members described as a terrible accident.
"She was not the least bit irresponsible," the victim's father-in-law, Terry Rutledge, said. "She was taken much too soon." He called his daughter-in-law a "beautiful, young, loving mother."
Veronica's husband was called to Walmart after the shooting, and the four children were taken to relatives' homes. The store shut down and was not expected to reopen until the following day.
Walmart spokesperson Brooke Buchanan called the killing a "very sad and tragic accident," and said the retail giant would offer transparency throughout the case.
"We are working closely with the local sheriff's department while they investigate what happened," she said.
Unattended weapons have led to children accidentally discharging firearms, or bringing them to school.
In October, a four-year-old pre-school student in Sullivan City, Texas was discovered with a.40 caliber glock in his backpack, loaded with 15 rounds. A teacher was notified of the situation, and no one was injured.
A similar situation occurred in Griffin, Georgia in August 2013, when a pre-school student brought a loaded gun to Jordan Hill Elementary School. A classmate notified the teacher, and the gun was confiscated.
Three Houston children were hurt in April 2011 when a kindergartener brought a Kel-Tec 380 to Ross Elementary School. The child had the gun in his pocket, and it discharged when he sat down for lunch. One bullet was fired, and the fragments hit a five-year-old girl in the knee, and a six-year-old boy in the leg. The six-year-old boy who brought the gun to school was struck in the foot by a fragment.
The owner of the weapon was the boyfriend of the boy's mother, and was charged with making a firearm accessible to a minor causing serious bodily injury.
