A three-year-old Indiana boy killed his father after finding his loaded handgun and accidentally shooting him.

Police say Michael A Bayless, 33, was watching TV with two of his three children when the three-year-old discovered the loaded .45 on Friday night.

When emergency crews arrived at the house in Salem, Indiana, Mr Bayless was already dead, having passed away in front of his family.

Mr Bayless and his family are from Martinsville, an Indiana town 80 miles to the north, the Louisville Courier-Journal reports.

He was at the home in Salem, which he had just purchased, to do remodeling work.

It is unknown where Mr Bayless left the gun that his young son had access to it.

No one else was injured in the shooting and police have ruled it accidental, the newspaper reports.

The incident occurred about 10pm after Mr Bayless finished work on the house for the day.

Indiana State Police Sergeant Jerry Goodin called it a 'tragic accident' that could have been prevented.

'We have no reason to believe that there's any foul play involved. We think that this is purely a tragic accident that happened. It was an accident that could have been prevented if the handgun had been out of reach of a 3-year-old child. Unfortunately, it didn't happen that way,' said Goodin.