A woman working at a thrift shop in Chicago was fatally shot after a co-worker discovered a gun hidden in stock, causing it to discharge after it fell to the ground, NBC News reported.
Maria Carmen Dominguez, 54, died on Friday after she was shot in the chest. Her colleague, whose name has not been released, was sorting through clothes when he shook a gun from a sock.
The tragic incident occured around 10 a.m. at the Unique Thrift Store in the city's Washington Heights section. She was transported to a nearby hospital where she was later pronounced dead.
"It's tragic," said Dominguez's husband, Victor Campos. "We don't know what we are going to do."
Campos said his late wife worked at the store for 25 years.
"I can't believe it," Campos said. "We have a 17-year-old daughter. She's in high school, and she doesn't know what is going on."
Dominguez leaves behind her husband, one daughter, and one son.
Barbara Paradise, a regular customer, also expressed her shock and disbelief.
"So sad, so sad," Paradise told NBC Chicago. "It breaks my heart. That's why I came back, because I knew her."
Authorities are investigating the incident as accidental and no arrests have been made.
