Boopac Shakur, man known for luring alleged sexual predators, shot and killed

Robert Wayne Lee, 40, made contact online with suspected pedophiles and recorded videos of in-person confrontations

A man who gained a sizable social media following by posing as a child online to lure out alleged sexual predators was shot to death late last week during a confrontation at a restaurant in Michigan.

Two men have been arrested in connection with the killing of 40-year-old Robert Wayne Lee, also known to his followers as Boopac Shakur.

Lee and friends would pretend to be a 15-year-old girl, make contact with adults suspected of being interested in sexually abusing the child, and arrange to personally meet those online users.

He would record videos of the online conversations and the subsequent in-person confrontations. Lee would then post those videos on Facebook and Instagram pages, which had tens of thousands of followers combined.

On Friday night, he met two teenagers – one age 17 and the other 18 – at a restaurant in the community of Pontiac, about 30 miles (48.2km) north-west of Detroit, according to the local Oakland county sheriff’s office. Lee punched one of the teens after accusing him of being a pedophile, the sheriff’s office said in a news release.

The younger teen pulled a gun out, and the older one armed himself with a knife. The 17-year-old then shot Lee several times before both of the teens fled the establishment.

Lee was brought to a hospital, where he died, the sheriff’s office news release said.

Authorities on Saturday afternoon arrested the two teens whom Lee had encountered at the restaurant. Their names were not immediately released as detectives prepared to turn the case over for possible criminal charges.

In his agency’s news release, sheriff Michael Bouchard said Lee’s “one-man crusade has led to the arrest [of] and criminal charges being filed against several men”. A former corrections officer was among those charged after drawing Lee’s attention.

But, the release notably added, “he has also mistakenly identified someone as a sexual predator who was not.

“While we certainly understand his desire to hold child predators accountable, many times well intentioned individuals who engage in this don’t know the standard of evidence required for convictions and often underestimate the potential for violence confronting a suspected predator.”

The Oakland Press, a local news outlet, reported that it had interviewed Lee in January. Lee described himself in that conversation as a “vigilante doing police work without a badge”.

He also said his three school-age children – two daughters and a son – motivated him to pursue his Boopac Shakur project, which brought him into confrontations recorded at parking lots, businesses and even private homes. So did videos posted online by a group that labeled itself Dads Against Predators.

Lee also recounted drawing inspiration from the To Catch a Predator segments which former Detroit television reporter Chris Hansen would produce for the NBC News show Dateline.

But To Catch a Predator has a mixed legacy. Some of Hansen’s targets were never prosecuted, and the show was blamed for purportedly tainting evidence. NBC also faced a high-profile lawsuit from the sister of a man who died by suicide after being exposed on the show, whose host was ultimately fired from the network after an extramarital affair generated tabloid headlines.

Bouchard told the Oakland Press that Lee’s videos had led to four arrests, including a corrections officer at the local jail. But Bouchard said his agency did not advise or coach Lee, who was neither credited in the police reports resulting from the arrests nor called to testify about his methods.

Since Lee’s killing, a GoFundMe campaign established to support his family had raised more than $7,200.

Lee’s followers had also flooded his Boopac Shakur pages with tributes, with some questioning authorities’ account of the deadly shooting.

Multiple comments referred to Lee as a “superhero”. Another read: “RIP Boopac Shakur. Thank you for all you did.”

Lee’s mother, Jackie, told the Michigan news station WXYZ that her son had a quiet presence unless he was pursuing a suspected child predator.

“I just want people to know how kind he was, and he had such a good heart,” Lee said to the station. “I know that sounds kind of cliche, but that was my son.”

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