By Karen Brooks

(Reuters) - A seven-year-old boy was shot to death by his father on Saturday in the parking lot of a gun store in western Pennsylvania in an apparent accident, state police told Reuters.

Craig Allen Loughrey was shot in the chest by a handgun his father, Joseph V. Loughrey, 44, was holding as they were getting into the family vehicle at Twig's Reloading Den in Mercer, about 60 miles north of Pittsburgh, a Pennsylvania State Police spokesman said.

The boy died at the scene of the shooting, which happened at 10:50 a.m. His father was questioned by investigators, but police said the evidence pointed to an accident.

The two were from nearby Fredonia, Pa., police said.

(Reporting by Karen Brooks; Editing by Tim Gaynor and Jackie Frank)