A mother who was accidentally shot dead by her 2-year-old son in a Walmart supermarket had been carrying the gun in a handbag given to her as a Christmas present, it emerged yesterday.
Veronica Rutledge had a concealed weapons permit for the gun which the toddler, her only child, fired into her at point blank range after finding it in her handbag.
They described the nuclear research scientist, 29, as a ‘beautiful, young, loving mother’ who was ‘taken much too soon’ in the latest gun tragedy in the U.S. where there are more than 32,000 firearm-related deaths a year.
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Tragic accident: A two-year-old boy accidentally killed his a 29-year-old mother Veronica Rutledge (left) at an Idaho Walmart store after reaching into her bag and firing her hidden gun
Ruteledge had a bag similar to the one pictured here, specially designed to conceal a weapon (file image of a bag that is not believed to be the model given to Ruteledge, on the left). It was revealed today that the bag was a gift from her husband Colt (on the right, a picture of her husband from his MySpace profile)
Mrs Rutledge was killed at the Walmart in Hayden, Idaho, on Tuesday in front of three of her nieces - all aged under 11 - who had joined her to spend their holiday gift cards.
In-store CCTV captured the shocking moment in the electronics aisle as the boy, who was sitting in the trolley seat, reached into his mother’s handbag where he found the gun and pulled the trigger.
The mother-of-one from Blackfoot, Idaho 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 Spokesman-Review newspaper in Idaho.
Unthinkable: People stand inside the Walmart in Hayden, Idaho on Tuesday after the two-year-old boy tragically killed his own mother while they shopped. The Walmart was evacuated and closed after the shooting
Location: The shooting happened in a Walmart store in Hayden, Idaho
Mrs Rutledge was a strong advocate of the Second Amendment which guarantees the right to bear arms.
She worked at the Idaho National Laboratory in Idaho Falls and a family member said that she was a ‘chemical engineer, a very bright young lady’.
Her husband had given his wife the handbag containing a special zipped compartment for the gun as a Christmas present.
They are painting Veronica as irresponsible, and that is not the case Father-in-law Terry RutledgeThe victim’s father-in law Terry Rutledge criticized those who blamed the dead mother as being irresponsible for carrying a loaded weapon.
He said: ‘They are painting Veronica as irresponsible, and that is not the case.
‘I brought my son up around guns, and he has extensive experience shooting it. And Veronica had had handgun classes. They’re both licensed to carry, and this wasn’t just some purse she had thrown her gun into.
‘Odd as it may sound, we are gun people.’
He went on to say that the tragic incident will haunt his family for the rest of their lives.
'My son is terrible,' Terry Rutledge told the Washington Post. '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.'
Idaho, a rugged and largely rural state, is among the U.S. states with the highest percentage of Americans who own guns.
State law allows concealed weapons in most public places and only last week Hayden amended its own rules to make clear a gun owner is justified in firing a weapon in self defense.
Lt Stu Miller of the Kootenai County sheriff’s office described the shooting as a ‘tragic accident’.
Asked why Mrs Rutledge was carrying a loaded gun he said that it was ‘pretty common around here’ for someone to do so.
Shooting: An Idaho state patrol officer arrived at the store in Hayden on Tuesday following the shooting
Lt Miller added that even now her son ‘probably still doesn’t even know what has happened’.
Hayden resident Judy Minter said: ‘There’s a lot of people who do carry guns in this area.
‘But for her to have it within reach of her child - that was not very smart.’
Idaho National Laboratory senior chemical engineer Vince Maio worked with Mrs Rutledge on a research paper about using glass ceramic to store nuclear waste, according to the Spokesman-Review.
'Beautiful person': Ms Rutledge (left) was a nuclear research scientist and a mother-of-one
Tragic: The victim was spending the day with her son and nieces when she was shot dead
‘She had a lot of maturity for her age,’ he told the newspaper. ‘Her work was impeccable. She found new ways to do things that we did before and she found ways to do them better.’
‘She was a beautiful person,’ he added.
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ShareThe incident is the latest example of shootings involving children in the U.S.
Only last month a girl of four seriously injured a boy of three who lived next door when she shot him in the face.
Walmart spokesman Aaron Mullins said that bringing a loaded gun into the store was not a violation of store policy as the company defers to state and local laws.
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