Man kills 3, heads to Georgia to kill another, dies in shootout with Florida deputies, officials say

MANATEE COUNTY, Fla. — A man who deputies say killed three women in Florida is dead after he fired shots at deputies.

The Bradenton Police Department, sharing information on Facebook from the Manatee County Sheriff’s Office, identified 28-year-old Javontee Brice as the man behind the killings. He is the father of an estimated 12 children, Manatee County Sheriff Rick Wells said.

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“He seemed to have an agenda. He knew exactly who he wanted to kill,” Wells said of Brice.

Bradenton, where two of the shootings happened, is about 45 miles south of Tampa on Florida’s Gulf Coast.

Wells said in a Tuesday morning news conference that authorities believe the shootings were preceded by an incident at an apartment in the city of Palmetto. Brice went into an apartment where his sister and “a mother of one of the many children” Brice has were inside, Wells said.

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Brice walked into the apartment, looked at the ex-girlfriend, and said, “I have to kill you,” Wells said.

Somehow, Brice’s sister was able to talk him out of shooting the ex-girlfriend.

Then around 9:15 p.m. Monday, deputies responded to a Motel 6 in Bradenton, the Facebook post said. When they arrived, they found a 48-year-old woman, Brice’s mother, dead of a gunshot wound.

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Also inside the hotel room were Brice’s mother’s boyfriend and Brice’s two juvenile sisters, Wells said.

Wells said that Brice walked in, looked at his mother, and said, “I’m sorry.” She asked, “What did you do?” and he shot her three times, Wells said.

BPD said around 9:40 p.m., deputies were dispatched to another shooting in Palmetto, where a 29-year-old woman was shot while sitting in a parked SUV.

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Wells said the woman who was shot was Brice’s cousin, who was leaving a cookout.

She died about an hour later and witnesses identified Brice as the person who shot her.

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Deputies then learned about another woman shot just after 10 p.m. in Bradenton. BPD said officers learned that Brice was also the suspect in this shooting, where the woman later died at a local hospital.

Wells said the woman who Brice killed was his ex-girlfriend’s new partner.

MCSO detectives learned that Brice was traveling to Georgia, intending to kill another ex-girlfriend, Wells said. While he was committing the shootings and while he was traveling to Georgia, a woman was in the car with Brice. Wells said investigators will be talking to that woman.

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A statewide BOLO was issued for Brice’s vehicle and Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office deputies located Brice. Hamilton County is just west of Columbia County.

BPD said around 1:30 a.m. Tuesday, Brice was shot and killed after he fired shots at HCSO deputies. Wells said Brice got out of the car shooting at deputies. No deputies were hit by Brice, Wells said.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement will be investigating the Hamilton County deputies’ shooting of Brice.

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