(Reuters) - An Indiana father watching television with his children was accidentally shot to death by his 3-year-old son after the boy found a loaded handgun nearby, police said on Saturday.

Michael Payless, 33, was found dead in the southern Indiana town of Salem on Friday night.

Payless was watching television with two of his children when the other child, a 3-year-old boy, found the gun.

"The child accidentally discharged the loaded handgun ... Michael A. Payless was pronounced dead at the scene," an Indiana state police statement said.

Payless, with his wife, three children, and another juvenile, had been at the house doing some remodeling work, the statement said.

(Reporting By Greg McCune; Editing by Peter Cooney)