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| Veronica Rutledge (left) |
A mother has been shot dead by her two-year-old son who found a gun from her handbag.
Veronica Rutledge, 29, was accidentally shot and killed by the toddler while she was shopping in a Walmart store in Hayden, Idaho.
The incident was captured on video surveillance and several store employees also witnessed the shooting.
Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller said Ms Rutledge had a concealed weapons permit, allowing her to legally carry the gun.
According to police, the boy was sitting in the trolley when he found the concealed weapon while in the electronics department on the morning of 31st December 2014.
According to authorities, she was visiting from her home town of Blackfoot, Idaho and looking to spend gift cards the family received over the holidays.
The gun was believed to have been brought into the home by the mother's boyfriend.
The victim's father-in-law, Terry Rutledge said Ms Rutledge 'was a beautiful, young, loving mother'.
'She was not the least bit irresponsible,' Mr Rutledge added. 'She was taken much too soon.'
According to The Spokesman-Review, the victim was a nuclear research scientist and was employed by Idaho National Laboratory.
The mother-of-one was visiting family with her husband Colt, who she married in 2009, and was spending the day with her son and nieces, according to the newspaper.
In neighboring Washington state, a three-year-old boy was seriously injured in November when he was accidentally shot in the face by a four-year-old neighbor.
The boy was wounded as the children played in a home in Lake Stevens, about 30 miles north of Seattle.
In April, a two-year-old boy apparently shot and killed his 11-year-old sister while they and their siblings played with a gun inside a Philadelphia home.
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| Location: The shooting happened in a Walmart store in Hayden, Idaho |
Culled from DAILY MAIL
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