Walmart shooting: Boy kills woman with gun in purse

A TODDLER accidentally shot and killed a woman after he reached into her purse at Wal-Mart store and her concealed gun went off.

The woman, 29, was shopping with several children, and it is unclear how they are related, sheriff’s spokesman Stu Miller said.

Authorities originally said the two-year-old boy was the woman’s son.

The woman, whose identity was not released, had a concealed-weapons permit.

Miller said the shooting was accidental and occurred in the Wal-Mart in Hayden, Idaho, a town about 64 kilometres northeast of Spokane, Washington.

The woman and the children were in the back of the store near the electronics area when the shooting occurred, authorities said.

KREM-TV reports that witnesses and video surveillance from the store helped deputies determine the shooting was accidental.

The store closed after the shooting and was not expected to reopen until tomorrow.

Hayden is a politically conservative town of about 9,000 people just north of Coeur d’Alene in Idaho’s northe panhandle.