Chicago charity shop worker accidentally shot by gun hidden in donated sock

The gun was accidentally discharged by the woman's colleague as he shook it from a sock

The freak accident took place at a Unique Thrift Store in Chicago (Google Street View)

A Chicago charity shop worker was killed when a gun hidden in a donated sock was accidentally discharged by her colleague.

Maria Carmen Dominguez, 54, died in the freak accident on Friday at the Unique Thrift Store in the 9300 block of South Ashland Avenue on Chicago's South Side, the Chicago Tribune reported.

"It's tragic," Dominguez's husband, Victor Campos, told WMAQ-TV.

"We don't know what we are going to do."

Ms Dominguez was fatally shot in the chest when she and a male co-worker were sorting through clothing in a back room. The .22-caliber handgun slipped from a sock and hit the unidentified man’s hand, which caused it to discharge at around 9.40am.

Ms Dominguez was rushed to Advocate Christ Medical Center in Oak Lawn, but was pronounced dead at 10.27am, according to police and the Cook County medical examiner’s office.

Campos said his wife had worked for the company for 25 years.

"I can't believe it," he told Chicago’s NBC affiliate.

“We have a 17-year-old daughter. She's in high school, and she doesn't know what is going on."

The couple also have a son in his 30s.

“Preliminary indications during the course of the investigation are that this is a tragic, accidental incident,” police said in a statement.

The Department of Labor said they are investigating the incident.