Man shoots three women, including his mother, in separate shootings within 1 hour: Florida police

A man died after allegedly going on a “killing spree,” shooting to death three women — his mother, his cousin and an ex-girlfriend’s new partner — in separate shootings in Florida, authorities said.

Before the shooting began Monday night, the suspect, 28-year-old Javontee Brice, first went to an apartment in Palmetto where his sister and ex-girlfriend were located, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said. at a press conference.

“He looked at his ex-girlfriend and said, ‘I have to kill you.’ Somehow, his sister managed to calm him down and talk him out of shooting his ex-girlfriend,” Wells said. “She later told investigators that he was acting very strangely.”

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Wells then drove to a Motel 6 in Bradenton, where his mother, his two younger sisters and the mother’s boyfriend were staying, the sheriff said.

At about 9:15 p.m., “he walked into that hotel room and looked at his mother and said, ‘I’m sorry,’” Wells said.

“She asked, ‘What did you do?’ And he shoots her three times in front of her boyfriend and these two innocent young men,” Wells said.

Brice then drove to a home in Palmetto where one of his cousins ​​was having a barbecue, the sheriff said. Wells allegedly shot his cousin as she was getting into her car to leave around 9:40 p.m., the sheriff said. The 29-year-old cousin died about an hour later, the sheriff said.

Brice then drove to a home in Bradenton where another ex-girlfriend lived with her new partner, the sheriff said. At about 10:04 p.m., Brice allegedly shot and killed his new partner, Wells said.

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The sheriff’s office said it issued a statewide “Be on the Lookout” bulletin for Brice’s car, which was later tracked to Hamilton County, near the state line with Georgia.

Authorities discovered that Brice “possibly has another ex-girlfriend” in Georgia and may be driving there to kill her, Wells said.

When police stopped Brice about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in Hamilton County, Brice got out of the car and began shooting at officers, Wells said.

Officers returned fire, fatally shooting Brice, Wells said.

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A woman was with Brice when he was stopped and she is being interviewed, the sheriff said.

“We don’t know her relationship to him at this point, but she was in the car when the shooting occurred,” Wells said.

Brice’s family is “devastated” by the murders of his mother and cousin, Wells said, but investigators plan to interview relatives to determine what Brice “may have been going through in recent days.”

“He seemed to have an agenda; he knew exactly who he wanted to kill and had no trouble tracking them down,” Wells said.

“We don’t know what angered this man. We don’t know why he chose to kill his loved ones,” the sheriff added. “We may never know, but we will continue to investigate.”

Man shoots three women, including his mother, in separate shootings within 1 hour: Florida police originally appeared in abcnews.go.com