Officials identified the woman shot and killed Saturday by a San Diego police officer after she allegedly stabbed her boyfriend and 9-year-old son.
Maria Zarco, 33, died of multiple gunshot wounds according to the county's medical examiner.
Zarco was shot by a 5-year veteran of the San Diego police department outside her home on Quebec Court just after midnight Saturday.
The officer was called to the home by Zarco's boyfriend who said he had been stabbed and Zarco's children had been attacked.
Investigators say Zarco had stabbed her 9-year-old son with a knife and hit her 16-year-old son in the head with a vase.
Lt Jorge Duran with the San Diego Police Department Homicide Unit said the woman was in the parking lot when officers arrived.
“She was armed with a knife. The officer ordered the female to drop the knife several times according to witnesses who heard the officer calling out to her,” Duran said.
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The woman raised the knife above her head and charged at the officer witnesses told officials.
The children and boyfriend were treated for non-life threatening injuries officials said.
The officer who shot the woman has been placed on administrative duty while the investigation is conducted. He has been identified as Michael Barrett, a five-year veteran of the department.
