2-year-old fatally shoots his mother at a Walmart in Idaho (1 Viewer)

[Rohn Jambo]

More details:...

That poor kid is going to be in counseling his entire life.

The kid knew exactly where the gun was hidden and hit his target with a single shot like a natural born sharpshooter? There is something fishy about this story.As for the woman, it sucks to die in a Walmart.

 

[Flying V]

If you have a loaded gun in your purse and you let your baby in it...well you deserve to die.

I agree with this part. There's a certain part of the population that maybe probably should be weeded out. The "unpermitted loaded handgun in purse taking four kids shopping" person is on that list. Sad for the kids though.

Although I agree that people can be incredibly stupid when it comes to guns, my solution is more geared toward education rather than eradication. You really should have to prove you can handle a gun before you can get a permit. I don't know why it's taking so long to get that figured out by the powers that be.

 

[Das Boot]

Wow, the stereotype I assumed of the woman was pretty far off the mark.

But I agree with what topdog said above, it should have been holstered so the trigger was not accessible, and I wouldn't have had a round chambered.

 

[Jobber]

"She was not the least bit irresponsible," Terry Rutledge said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. He complained about people using the incident to attack his daughter-in-law.

It's absolutely irresponsible to leave a toddler alone with access to a loaded gun.

Yep. They confirmed it's a semi, so she made two errors:1. A round in the chamber. A bad idea unless you have it holstered on your body, not a purse in out of your sight/control.

2. Safety off, or non-existent.

 

[El Floppo]

"She was not the least bit irresponsible," Terry Rutledge said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. He complained about people using the incident to attack his daughter-in-law.

It's absolutely irresponsible to leave a toddler alone with access to a loaded gun.

Yep. They confirmed it's a semi, so she made two errors:1. A round in the chamber. A bad idea unless you have it holstered on your body, not a purse in out of your sight/control.

2. Safety off, or non-existent.

I keep coming back to that.

Sounds like a woman with book smarts... so sad/horrible that common-sense smarts weren't in place that day. Again- I'm not a gun guy, but I just can't conceive of having this kind of weapon readily available to be shot lethally by a 2yo. I assume the safety would've kept this from happening?

 

[fatness]

"She was not the least bit irresponsible," Terry Rutledge said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. He complained about people using the incident to attack his daughter-in-law.

It's absolutely irresponsible to leave a toddler alone with access to a loaded gun.

I agree what the guy said was wrong, and was stupid. But when someone has just lost a loved family member you have to overlook that. Family members get pretty torn up after a death.

 

[lord_helmet]

Guns don't kill people etc.......

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Actually the husband gave her the purse with the special pouch for Christmas. Maybe if he doesn't give her that, none of this happens.

 

[PatsWillWin]

Actually the husband gave her the purse with the special pouch for Christmas. Maybe if he doesn't give her that, none of this happens.

Still means a round was chambered and there was no safety, right? She'd have been better off with the safety on and the gun floating around loose in her purse.

 

[SaintsInDome2006]

Actually the husband gave her the purse with the special pouch for Christmas. Maybe if he doesn't give her that, none of this happens.

Still means a round was chambered and there was no safety, right? She'd have been better off with the safety on and the gun floating around loose in her purse.

Totally agree, makes me think there's more to the story, like maybe she was afraid of someone.

 

[NutterButter]

"She was not the least bit irresponsible," Terry Rutledge said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. He complained about people using the incident to attack his daughter-in-law.

It's absolutely irresponsible to leave a toddler alone with access to a loaded gun.

Yep. They confirmed it's a semi, so she made two errors:1. A round in the chamber. A bad idea unless you have it holstered on your body, not a purse in out of your sight/control.

2. Safety off, or non-existent.

And somehow still a responsible gun owner according to her father in law

 

[bostonfred]

Husband will never forgive himself for giving her that purse

mother is dead

2 year old will never be right ever

Other kids will never forgive two year old

If you separate the two year old from the other kids that's a nightmare. If you don't that's a nightmare.

Just sad as all get out.

 

[Zow]

Sad story. Feel very bad for the two year old when he finds out how his mother died one day.

Jesus.

Serious question - had the two year old reached into the purse and the gun went off and killed

one of the nieces, is this woman charged with anything?

Unlikely her own family would bring charges. I was wondering what would have happened had the toddler killed a stranger.

It's up to the state whether to "bring charges".

 

[AAABatteries]

More details:

SPOKANE, Wash. (AP) — Concealed weapons are part of everyday life in Idaho, and that's unlikely to change in the Mountain West state despite a shocking accident in which a 2-year-old boy reached into his mother's purse, got ahold of her gun and shot her in the head inside a Wal-Mart.Veronica J. Rutledge, 29, was shopping Tuesday morning with her son and three nieces in Hayden, Idaho, when the small-caliber handgun discharged one time, killing her.Terry Rutledge, Veronica's father-in-law, told The Spokesman-Review that the boy unzipped the special gun compartment in the woman's purse where the weapon was kept while she was looking at clothing.Terry Rutledge said his daughter-in-law did not put the weapon "loosely into her purse."Victoria Rutledge had a concealed weapons permit, and guns were a big part of Rutledge's life, her father-in-law said."She was not the least bit irresponsible," Terry Rutledge said in a brief interview with The Associated Press. He complained about people using the incident to attack his daughter-in-law.Meanwhile, the Kootenai County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday afternoon released a few more details about the incident. The boy removed the 9mm semi-automatic handgun from his mother's purse and shot her once in the head, killing her instantly, the sheriff's office said.The manager of the store, who was nearby when the shot was fired, stepped in and took the firearm from the child, the sheriff's office said. The manager and other employees secured the scene and evacuated customers.The woman's purse was new and was designed to carry a concealed firearm, the sheriff's office said. Detectives continue to analyze video from the store, examine the weapon and interview witnesses, the sheriff's office added.Terry Rutledge told The Washington Post that Veronica Rutledge and her husband practiced at shooting ranges and each had a concealed weapons permit. He said for Christmas this year, her husband gave her the purse with a special zippered pocket for a concealed weapon.About 7 percent of adults in Idaho had concealed weapons permits at the end of 2012, according to the Crime Prevention Research Center in Swarthmore, Pennsylvania. That ranked Idaho among the top third of states.Kootenai County, which has about 140,000 residents, has issued close to 16,000 concealed weapons permits, Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller said Wednesday."It's very commonplace in northern Idaho for folks to have a concealed weapons permit," Miller said, and most businesses do not prohibit firearms.Veronica Rutledge lived in Blackfoot, in southeastern Idaho, and her family had come to the Hayden area to visit relatives for Christmas.She was an employee of the Idaho National Laboratory near Idaho Falls, Idaho, where she was a nuclear scientist. The laboratory supports the U.S. Department of Energy in nuclear and energy research and national defense."We're deeply saddened by this tragedy," said Nicole Stricker, a spokeswoman for the lab.Rutledge graduated from high school in Harrison, a lakeside town in the Idaho Panhandle. She was the valedictorian of her class. She graduated from the University of Idaho with a degree in chemistry.She had taken the children to Wal-Mart on Tuesday morning to spend their Christmas gift cards, family members said. Her young son, her only child, was in a shopping cart.Responding deputies found Rutledge dead in the electronics section of the Wal-Mart in Hayden, a rural town of about 12,000 people 40 miles northeast of Spokane.Colt Rutledge, 32, arrived at the store in Idaho's northern panhandle shortly after the shooting around 10:20 a.m. Tuesday, Miller said. All the children were taken to a relative's house.Officers viewed surveillance video provided by the store to determine what happened, Miller said.Like other Western states, gun rights are a big issue in Idaho. State lawmakers passed legislation earlier this year allowing concealed weapons on the state's public college and university campuses. Despite facing opposition from all eight of the state's university college presidents, lawmakers sided with gun-rights advocates who said the law would better uphold the Second Amendment.Terry Rutledge told the AP that his daughter-in-law "was a beautiful, young, loving mother.""She was taken much too soon," he said.

That poor kid is going to be in counseling his entire life.

Why tell him? Change your and his name and move. Never tell him if you can.

 

[AAABatteries]

Husband will never forgive himself for giving her that purse

mother is dead

2 year old will never be right ever

Other kids will never forgive two year old

If you separate the two year old from the other kids that's a nightmare. If you don't that's a nightmare.

Just sad as all get out.

Ok, never mind - I misread things. Not sure what to do with other siblings in the picture.ETA - now I'm confused - aren't the other kids cousins? If so, you do the tough thing and try to move away and have no contact . I think I would see that as my only option for him to have a normal life.

 

[Ghost Rider]

That is just awful. That kid will never be right.

 

[cstu]

Husband will never forgive himself for giving her that purse

mother is dead

2 year old will never be right ever

Other kids will never forgive two year old

If you separate the two year old from the other kids that's a nightmare. If you don't that's a nightmare.

Just sad as all get out.

Ok, never mind - I misread things. Not sure what to do with other siblings in the picture.ETA - now I'm confused - aren't the other kids cousins? If so, you do the tough thing and try to move away and have no contact . I think I would see that as my only option for him to have a normal life.

Moving away is the only option IMO. Depending on the character of the cousins it's possible to keep it contact but I'd prefer to stay away and try to erase it from his memory.

 

[jwb]

Actually the husband gave her the purse with the special pouch for Christmas. Maybe if he doesn't give her that, none of this happens.

Still means a round was chambered and there was no safety, right? She'd have been better off with the safety on and the gun floating around loose in her purse.

Yea, that's insane. I carry, and my carry pistol does not have a safety, but like all semis, you have to rack the slide to chamber the first round. That's my safety. No way, no how would I carry with a round chambered. Way too many things can go wrong.

I do know the more zealous gun owners state the need to be able to fast draw and shoot in a split second. To me, that's a little much. I carry because I don't want to be unarmed when the next movie theater or mall shooter decides to snap. I carry in the hope that whatever incident I feel I need the gun for, I'll have a few seconds and have the time to react. But a Doc Holliday fast draw? No, I'll concede losing that in the interest of not having a Plaxico Burress type accident.

 

[Tom Skerritt]

Assuming the 2 year old had probably seen his parents shoot guns before too, right?

 

[The General]

Did the kid want to be a cop?

Oh snap.