A mother has been shot dead by her two-year-old son who found a gun from her handbag.

Veronica Rutledge, 29, was accidentally shot and killed by the toddler while she was shopping in a Walmart store in Hayden, Idaho.

According to police, the boy was sitting in the trolley when he found the concealed weapon while in the electronics department yesterday morning.

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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

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

According to authorities, she was visiting from her home town of Blackfoot, Idaho and looking to spend gift cards the family received over the holidays.

The incident was captured on video surveillance and several store employees also witnessed the shooting.

Kootenai County sheriff's spokesman Stu Miller said Ms Rutledge had a concealed weapons permit, allowing her to legally carry the gun.

Idaho, a rugged and largely rural state, is among the US states with the highest percentage of Americans who own guns.

The victim's father-in-law, Terry Rutledge said Ms Rutledge 'was a beautiful, young, loving mother'.

'She was not the least bit irresponsible,' Mr Rutledge added. 'She was taken much too soon.'

According to The Spokesman-Review, the victim was a nuclear research scientist and was employed by Idaho National Laboratory.

The mother-of-one 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 newspaper.

The Walmart store was evacuated and closed after the shooting. The manager said it will reopen tomorrow at 6am local time.

Walmart responded to the tragic shooting in a statement issued yesterday afternoon by spokesman Aaron Mullins.

It read: 'A very sad incident occurred at our store today involving the death of a female customer.

'We are fully cooperating with the Kootenai County Sheriff's deputies as they investigate this matter.'

Idaho National Laboratory senior chemical engineer, Vince Maio worked with Ms Rutledge on a research paper about using glass ceramic to store nuclear waste, according to the Spokesman-Review.

'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.

'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

In neighboring Washington state, a three-year-old boy was seriously injured in November when he was accidentally shot in the face by a four-year-old neighbor.

The boy was wounded as the children played in a home in Lake Stevens, about 30 miles north of Seattle.

In April, a two-year-old boy apparently shot and killed his 11-year-old sister while they and their siblings played with a gun inside a Philadelphia home.

Authorities said the gun was believed to have been brought into the home by the mother's boyfriend.

Location: The shooting happened in a Walmart store in Hayden, Idaho