Three-year-old shoots himself dead

A three-year-old boy died after apparently shooting himself in the face with his father's gun, according to police in the US.

The boy's mother said in an emergency call on Tuesday that William McAnaul pulled the trigger after he found the 9mm handgun under a bed in the family's home in the Dayton, Ohio, suburb of Vandalia.

He died at a Dayton hospital later in the day, the Dayton Daily News reported.

Vandalia city spokesman Rich Hopkins called it an "absolutely tragic accident".

Police Lieutenant Harry Busse said on Wednesday that details of the shooting would not be released until the investigation was complete.

The Montgomery County Coroner's Office said post-mortem examination results are pending.