A woman in the US state of Idaho has been killed after her two-year-old son accidentally shot her with a gun he found when reaching into her handbag. The woman, named by the local sheriff's office as Veronica J Rutledge, 29, was shot in a Wal-Mart in Hayden, a town in Idaho's northern panhandle, BBC reports.

Officials said Ms Rutledge had had a concealed weapons permit. She and her children had been in the rear of the store near the electronics area when the shooting occurred, they said.

The Wal-Mart closed after the shooting and is not expected to reopen until Wednesday.