MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — Manatee County's sheriff says a 28-year-old man went on a killing spree Monday night before being fatally shot by deputies near the Florida-Georgia line.
Sheriff Rick Wells said Javontee Brice went to three different locations and shot three women he knew. Two of them were family members.
What You Need To Know
- Three women shot and killed in Bradenton Monday night
- Authorities said the gunman was Javontee Brice, who was seen by witnesses at all of the shooting scenes
- Officials said the first woman killed was Brice's 48-year-old mother
- Brice was killed around 1:30 a.m. in a shootout with deputies in Hamilton County near the Florida-Georgia state line
He said there could have been a fourth, but that Brice's sister talked him out of it.
“When he walked into the apartment, he looked at the ex-girlfriend and said, 'I have to kill you,' Wells said. "Somehow the sister was able to talk him down and talk him out of him shooting this ex-girlfriend.”
Wells said Brice has 12 kids and appeared to be targeting their mothers, along with women in his family.
"He had an agenda. He knew exactly who he wanted to kill," Wells said.
The first murder happened at a Motel 6 on 67th Street Circle East in Bradenton.
According to Wells, Brice shot and killed his mother, 48-year-old Titimysha Scott, in front of her boyfriend and two young sisters.
ABOVE: Watch Sheriff Rick Wells discuss the case at a news conference
“He walked into that hotel room, looked at the mother and said, ‘I’m sorry.’ She asked, ‘What did you do?’ and he shoots her three times in front of the boyfriend and these two innocent juveniles," Wells said.
Brice then traveled to home in Pametto and killed his cousin, 29-year-old Secuoya Bride, as she was getting into her car to leave a cookout.
A neighbor said he heard the gunshot and that police were quick to arrive.
Brice next went to a Bradenton apartment and shot killed the new partner of an ex-girlfriend. That victim was identified as 31-year-old Charel Carter.
Wells said he believes that Brice, who then started traveling to Georgia, was going to kill another ex-girlfriend.
Before he got across the state line, he was pulled over by Hamilton County deputies. Wells said Brice opened fire on them and was shot and killed.
“We don’t know motive, ladies and gentlemen," Wells said. "We don’t know what set this man off. We don’t know why he chose to kills his loved ones.”
The investigation is still under way.