Two-year-old in US accidentally shoots and kills mother

LOS ANGELES - A two-year-old boy on Tuesday accidentally shot and killed his mother in a Walmart store after taking a gun from her purse, police said.

The shooting took place in the store in Hayden, Idaho, where a woman was shopping with her children and other family members.

"Once on scene, deputies found a 29-year-old victim was deceased from an apparent gunshot wound," Kootenai County Sheriff Ben Wolfinger said in a statement.

"Her son was seated in the shopping cart and accessed the victim's concealed weapon from her purse and discharged it, striking the victim," he added, noting that the shooting appeared to be accidental.

Sources told a local television station that the woman, who was spending the holidays in the area, had a concealed weapons permit.

"A very sad incident occurred at our store today involving the death of a female customer," the local Walmart store said in a statement.