A man was apparently shot dead by his two-year-old son in what US police are calling a horrible accident.

Alabama, police Captain Gregg Rector said investigators have ruled out suicide and other scenarios in the death of 31-year-old Divine Vaniah Chambliss.

He said Mr Chambliss was found shot once in the head in a flat and no-one else was inside other than the toddler.

There was no sign of an intruder or a self-inflicted wound, and there was a semi-automatic pistol in the flat.

Police say the Jefferson County Medical Examiner's office has completed a post-mortem and the results are pending.

Captain Rector said it is not difficult for a child to pull a trigger on that kind of weapon, and investigators believe that is what happened.

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