BREAKING NEWS:

A 19-year-old woman died today after being shot by two Huntington Beach police officers who she allegedly tried to attack with a knife.

Ashley MacDonald was taken to Huntington Beach Hospital after being critically injured early Friday.

MacDonald had cut her mother earlier in the day during an argument and left the apartment carrying the knife, said Jim Amormino, Orange County Sheriff’s Department spokesman.

A passerby saw the young woman walking down Sher Lane near Bella Terra Mall “acting very bizarre, ” Amormino said. The woman passerby called 911 after MacDonald responded aggressively to her offer to help.

Two police officers responded to the call. They found her in Sun View Park off Edinger Avenue and Beach Boulevard and repeatedly asked her to drop the knife, Amormino said.

The woman, instead of dropping the knife, continued advancing toward the officers in a threatening manner when the officers shot her.

MacDonald was shot at least a couple of times in the upper body but an autopsy will determine the number, Amormino said.

The teenager lived in an apartment complex in the 16200 block of Sher Lane and appeared to be unemployed, he said.

The two officers have been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation. The Orange County Sheriff’s Department investigates officer-involved shootings in Huntington Beach, Westminster and other cities.

After the investigation is completed, the department will turn it over to the Orange County District Attorney’s office.

Autopsy tests performed on MacDonald will help determine if she was under the influence of drugs, Amormino said.

When MacDonald’s mother was informed of her daughter’s death, she became distraught and was taken by ambulance to the Huntington Beach Hospital, he added.