Image copyright WCPO Image caption Police are investigating at the boy's house

A three-year-old boy has killed himself while playing with his mother's handgun, according to police in Ohio.

The boy shot and fatally wounded himself in the chest after finding the gun at his home near Cincinnati.

In a 911 audiotape release by police, the boy's mother Elizabeth Green is heard reporting the incident.

"My son just shot himself and I'm not getting a pulse," she is heard screaming. Prosecutors are considering whether to charge her.

In the call, she said she keeps the gun in her purse and had set the purse down at home before the tragedy.

"The gun is mine. It is in the house, I carry it in my purse, I laid it down. We just got home," the mother told the 911 operator.

The boy has been identified as Marques Green, according to local media.

A detective was seen leaving the home with a small black handgun, and placing it into an evidence bag.

This is the second accidental shooting death of a child this month in this region of Ohio.

About 100 children die in the US every year in accidental shootings, according to data compiled by Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America.