LOS ANGELES (AFP) - The wife of Eagles co-founder Randy Meisner has been shot dead from an accidental discharge of a rifle at the couple's home in Los Angeles, police said on Monday.

Lana Meisner, 63, died less than two hours after officers were called to the couple's home in North Hollywood over a domestic violence incident on Sunday evening, the LAPD said in a statement.

Meisner had been moving a rifle in a closet when something in the weapon's case shifted and hit the trigger, causing it to go off, the statement said.

"When officers arrived they found Mrs Meisner suffering from a single gunshot wound. The Los Angeles Fire Department responded and pronounced Mrs Meisner dead at the scene," it added.

The statement said investigators from the police and coroner's office determined that the death was accidental and that Randy Meisner was "cooperative throughout the investigation." Patrol officers had been called to the home at 5.30 pm to respond to a woman "asking for police assistance for a possibly intoxicated male suspect." "The officers took a domestic violence incident report and left the location," the LAPD said.

They returned at 7pm after receiving a radio call about the shooting.

Randy Meisner, who left the Eagles in 1977, is best known for co-writing and singing the Eagles' hit song Take It To The Limit. He has struggled with drug and alcohol abuse during and after his fame with the Eagles and has suffered several health scares that eventually forced him to retire from touring.

The Los Angeles County Superior Court reportedly placed him under 24-hour supervision last year after he was diagnosed as suffering from bipolar disorder and suicidal ideations.

That action followed widespread media reports that he had allegedly threatened to kill himself and several others with an assault rifle.