Officers in the city of Santa Rosa say they opened fire after the boy refused orders to drop the rifle, which they believed to be real.
The shooting on Tuesday is now being investigated.
It comes a day after a 12-year-old boy in Nevada gunned down a maths teacher at his school and wounded two fellow pupils before taking his own life, reports the BBC.
In the latest incident, two sheriff's deputies saw the teenager "with what appeared to be some type of rifle", a news release from the Sonoma County Sheriff's office said.
The deputies called for backup and repeatedly ordered the boy to drop the gun before firing several rounds from their handguns, police said.
The boy, who was pronounced dead at the scene, was later identified by his family as Andy Lopez.
His father, Rodrigo Lopez, said the replica gun had belonged to a friend.
The sheriff's office said a plastic handgun had also been found in the boy's waistband.
Witness Brian Zastrow told the Santa Rosa Press Democrat he heard seven shots.
"First, I heard a single siren and within seconds I heard seven shots go off, sounded like a nail gun," he said.
Police Lt Dennis O'Leary said the deputies had been placed on administrative leave pending the inquiry.
Sheriff Steve Freitas described the shooting as a "tragedy" and promised the investigation would be thorough and transparent.
"As a father of two boys about this age, I can't begin to imagine the grief this family is going through," he said.
A spokeswoman for the boy's school described him as "a very loved student, a very popular, very handsome young man, very smart and capable".
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