This story was updated Thursday, Nov. 20, at 9:50 p.m.

Beaverton police fatally shot a woman who came out of her house armed with a rifle and pointed it at officers Thursday afternoon, they said.

The woman's boyfriend had called police earlier to say she was suicidal and had knives and rifles inside the home in the 12000 block of Southwest Conestoga Drive, said Officer Mike Rowe, police spokesman. He told officers that his girlfriend had pushed him and moved toward knives in the kitchen, so he left the home to call police.

Officers and crisis negotiators responded just after 3:50 p.m. to check on the woman. A Beaverton police negotiator had reached her on the phone, Rowe said.

The woman came out of her house several times with a rifle in her hand, the last time pointing the gun at police, he said. The shooting occurred about an hour after officers arrived.

Rowe didn't specify how many officers fired their guns but said the involved officers have been placed on paid administrative leave, which is standard after police shootings. He also did not say how many times the woman was hit. Her name was not released.

Rowe earlier reported that the woman's boyfriend told police that there was no ammunition in the house for either of two rifles.

After the shooting, he said he didn't know if the rifle was loaded.

"We're not going to wait and see if someone can fire at us first," he said. "We need to protect ourselves and the community."

No officers were hurt, he said, and the Washington County Major Crimes Team is investigating the incident. Southridge High School, across the street, was placed on lockdown as a precaution.

Residents described hearing between three and seven shots fired in rapid succession on Thursday afternoon. They said it sounded as if multiple guns were fired.

Neighbors said the incident happened at a home near the intersection of Southwest Clydesdale Terrace and Conestoga Drive. They said a man and a woman had lived in the house for about six or seven years, but they did not know their names. Residents said they couldn't remember ever seeing police at the residence before.

About 5 p.m., Warren Huch returned home after picking up his 5-year-old son from daycare. A police officer was at the corner of Clydesdale Terrance and Percheron Lane and told them to get in the house.

As the two headed up their porch steps, Huch heard about six shots. The shooting, Huch said, shattered the quiet of the neighborhood.

"The only noise that happens is the football games," said the 34-year-old, who has lived in the neighborhood for three years.

Across Clydesdale Terrance from Huch's home, Nikki Wilson was in a back room when she also heard about six gunshots. She darted to the front of her house, looked outside and saw police cruisers swarming the area.

"It's kind of unnerving," the 41-year-old said.

A police car, overhead lights flashing, had been blocking Clydesdale Terrace for hours, Wilson said.

Soon after the shooting, police also blocked Conestoga Drive with black-and-yellow crime scene tape cutting off access to the neighborhood of single-family houses and apartments near Conestoga Recreation & Aquatic Center.

Just across the street from the recreation center, Lyudmila Chvorun and her 12-year-old son, David, were at their Conestoga Drive home when they heard two to three gunshots, one fire right after another, they said.

Before the shots, they hadn't heard anything -- no yelling or commotion, they said.

"Scary and shocking," said David Chvorun, who attends Westgate Christian School. "I was really surprised there was some shooting. Normally, there's no shooting here."

Chvorun said she's lived at the house for 14 years. "I've never actually heard shots before," she said.

Thursday's shooting was the second of the year involving Beaverton police.

In February, Officer Jeremy Shaw shot and wounded 28-year-old Herbert James Rabago after he charged at the officer with a knife, according to the agency. No one else was injured during that encounter.

Nuran Alteir of The Oregonian staff contributed to this report.

-- Rebecca Woolington