A Michigan man known as "Boopac Shakur," who used social media to pose as an underage girl to catch sexual predators, was shot and killed late Friday evening.
According to the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office, 40-year-old Robert Wayne Lee was at a restaurant in Pontiac (near Detroit) around 10:30 p.m. when he confronted two men who were seated at a table.
Officials say Lee accused one of the men of being a pedophile and punched him, causing the man to pull out a knife. The second man pulled out a gun and shot Lee several times. The two men then ran away from the restaurant and Lee was taken to the hospital where he later died from his injuries. A K-9 search for the men was unsuccessful.
Those two men were arrested on Saturday afternoon, according to the Sheriff's Office. Detectives expect to turn the case over to prosecutors for charges in the coming days. Names have not been released at this time, but police tell us they believe both suspects are from Pontiac, with the suspected shooter being 17 and the other suspect being 18.
Lee ran a Facebook page with 11,000 followers. Police say he posed as a 15-year-old girl online in an effort to catch criminals.
Police say his page has led to the arrest and criminal charges being filed against multiple men, but they clarified that he has also mistakenly identified someone as a sexual predator.
“While we certainly understand his desire to hold child predators accountable, many times well intentioned individuals who engaged in this don’t know the standard of evidence required for convictions and often underestimate the potential for violence confronting a suspected predator," Oakland County Sheriff Mike Bouchard said in a statement. "They feel trapped and often lash out violently. When we have arrested predators in such circumstances, they have rammed police cars and exhibited other violent behavior in attempts to escape."
This story was originally published by Scripps News Detroit.
