"Preliminary investigation shows that the female was shopping with her two-year old son and other family members. Her son was seated in the shopping cart and accessed the victim’s concealed weapon from her purse and discharged it, striking the victim," the Kootenai County Sherrif's Office's Facebook post published late on Tuesday, read.
The woman, identified as Veronica Rutledge, 29, was found dead on the scene by the deputies.
#BREAKING: KCSO identifies woman shot at Hayden Wal-Mart by her 2yo son as Veronica Rutledge from Blackfoot, ID. pic.twitter.com/KaWKDxsIk4
— Patrick Erickson KHQ (@patrickerickson) December 31, 2014
"The shooting appears to be accidental. Detectives are currently processing the scene," the Sherrif's Office added.
According to the local KREM2 TV channel, the victim had a concealed weapon permit. The channel also cited data from the Crime Prevention Research Center, according to which, roughly 7 percent of Idaho adult population had concealed-weapons permits as of 2012.
