There is shock across the nation as a toddler accidentally shot his mother with her own handgun inside an Idaho Walmart. INSIDE EDITION has the details.
There is disbelief and shock after a two-year-old shot his mom dead with her own gun.
Twenty-nine-year-old Veronica Rutledge was shopping at a Walmart in Hayden, Idaho. Her son was sitting in the shopping cart when he reached into her purse, found the handgun, and pulled the trigger.
The tragic accident is raising so many questions such as how could a child that young find the strength to pull the trigger on a handgun? Gun experts tell INSIDE EDITION that firing the average revolver takes about as much strength as lifting a gallon of milk with your index finger.
The shooting is a reminder of another awful mishap that happened earlier this year when a nine-year-old girl accidentally shot her instructor with an Uzi machine gun at a gun range in Arizona.
Veronica Rutledge was a brilliant research scientist with a degree in chemical engineering. Video shows her at work at the Idaho National Laboratory where she specialized in the disposal of nuclear waste.
Her father-in-law describes her as "A beautiful, young, loving mother. She was not the least bit irresponsible. She was taken much too soon."
Ironically just six days before the tragedy, Veronica had just gotten a special handgun purse for Christmas. It has a zippered pocket specifically designed for holding a handgun like a holster, but somehow, her little boy was able to open it.
Psychologist Jeff Gardere says it is hard to say right now what impact the tragedy will have on the little boy.
Dr. Gardere told INSIDE EDITION, “We know the child shot his mother. Was he picked up and taken away from the scene? What did this child see? Did he see his mother going down to the floor? All of those things make a difference. The more trauma, the more the child saw, the more he experienced, the more vivid the memories will be later on.”
