The young mother accidentally shot and killed by her 2-year-old son in a Hayden Wal-Mart has been identified as 29-year-old Veronica J. Rutledge from Blackfoot, Idaho.
Rutledge's son was seated in a shopping cart around 10 am Tuesday morning when he reached into Rutledge's purse, pulled out her concealed weapon and discharged it, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office says. Rutledge had been shopping with the toddler and other family members at the time.
“A very sad incident occurred at our store today involving the death of a female customer,” Wal-Mart says in a statement. “We are fully cooperating with the Kootenai County Sheriff’s deputies as they investigate this matter.”
KREM is reporting that Rutledge did have a concealed weapons permit, which she acquired in Spokane. The Washington State Department of Licensing reported that 2012 ended with more than 367,800 active concealed weapons permits on the books, as the
Inlander previously
reported. The Idaho State Police listed 87, 248 active permits, as of January 2013.