'Killing spree': Man guns down 3 women in separate shootings within 1 hour

A man is dead after allegedly going on a "killing spree," gunning down three women -- his mother, his cousin and an ex-girlfriend's new partner -- in separate shootings in Florida, authorities said.

Before the Monday night shootings unfolded, 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 news conference.

"He looked at the ex-girlfriend and said, 'I have to kill you.' Somehow the sister was able to talk him down and talk him out of him shooting this ex-girlfriend," Wells said. "She later told investigators that he was acting very strange."

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

Around 9:15 p.m., "he walked into that hotel room, looked at the mother and said, 'I'm sorry,'" Wells said.

"She asked, 'What did you do?' And he shoots her three times in front of the boyfriend and these two innocent young juveniles," Wells said.

Brice then drove to a house in Palmetto where one of his cousins was at a cookout, 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 one 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 the new partner, Wells said.

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 learned Brice "possibly has another ex-girlfriend" in Georgia and may have been driving there to kill her, Wells said.

When police pulled Brice over at about 1:30 a.m. Tuesday in Hamilton County, Brice got out of the car and started firing at officers, Wells said.

The officers return fire, fatally shooting Brice, Wells said.

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

"We don't know her relation to him at this point, but she was in the car when the shootout took place," Wells said.

Brice's family is "devastated" by the slayings of the mother and cousin, Wells said, but investigators are looking to interview the relatives to determine what Brice "may have been going through the last few days."

"He seemed to have an agenda; he knew exactly who he wanted to kill and he did not have a hard time locating them," Wells said.

"We don't know what set this man off. We don't know why he chose to kill his loved ones," the sheriff added. "We may never know, but we're going to continue to investigate."