my speculation is that they said the child was two years old - this may have been the first time the kid was able to do such a thing. mom may have ever even thought it could appen b/c the kid was too young to do such a thing, before.
Good thought. I know nothing about toddlers so I don’t know the approximate age when they get motor skills. But still, if you have a gun in your purse, it better be zipped up and out of reach of children. And the woman was a nuclear scientist. Very sad for her family.