TAMPA - A Tampa woman is recovering from a gunshot wound she received while using the bathroom at local hotel. Police say Thursday morning, 53-year-old Janifer Bliss was attending a women's health conference at the Clarion Hotel and Conference Center on Fowler Avenue in Tampa.

She was inside a bathroom stall, when a bullet came from the next stall and hit her in the leg.

"We were really wondering what had gone on. We were kind of speculating as to what it could've been. A gunshot was pretty much the furthest from our imagination," said Hotel Manager Eddie Herrick.

Police say 56-year-old Debra Monce has a concealed weapons permit and had the gun in the stall next to Bliss.

"She had the gun in a holster on her pants. When she went to use the restroom, the gun fell out. It hit the ground. Once it hit the ground it discharged," said Tampa Police Spokesperson Andrea Davis. "[The bullet] went under the stall ... and hit the woman in the leg."

Police say Monce helped Bliss with her wound and told the front desk to call 911. Herrick says a hotel employee helped also.

"She was bleeding out pretty profusely from the gunshot wound. She had a pretty small hole in her leg, so she was able to apply pressure and stop the bleeding," he said.

Monce didn't return calls from FOX 13 or answer the door to her home in Land O' Lakes. Tampa Police handed the case over to the State Attorney's Office, and the office will decide whether criminal charges are in order.

"It's unsettling to know people would bring a concealed firearm into something like a medical conference," said Herrick. "She may have personal reasons why she carries that firearm."

Police say anyone carrying a gun in a holster needs to be very aware of what type of holster they're using.

"The type of holster the gun was in is called an open holster. It doesn't have any type of strap or clip holding the gun in," Davis said.