PONTIAC, Mich. – A Michigan man who was well known for posing as an underage girl on social media in order to catch sexual predators was fatally shot last week during a confrontation with two teenagers, authorities confirmed.
Robert Wayne Lee, also known as Boopac Shakur, 40, accumulated a large following on social media — 50,000 plus on Instagram and 11,000 plus on Facebook — thanks to his “To Catch a Predator” technique of posing as an underage girl online and exposing the grown men who unsuspectingly met up with him, Law&Crime reported.
He is now being remembered for his fearless pursuits of child sex predators after being shot and killed during a confrontation on September 29 in Pontiac, Michigan.
Lee was following up on one of his sting operations at the Universal Coney Island restaurant near the corner of North Perry and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard when he was gunned down.
The man who sought to unmask child predators confronted two male individuals, ages 17 and 18, accusing the older teen of being a pedophile before engaging in a fight about 10:30 p.m. One suspect pulled out a knife while the other drew a firearm and discharged several rounds, striking Lee.
The young men fled the scene as Lee lay dying on the floor. Though he was eventually transported to a nearby hospital, he was later pronounced dead, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Both suspects were tracked down the next day and arrested by detectives with the Oakland County Sheriff’s Office. Their identities have not yet been released.
“[H]e confronted the two suspects who were seated at a table,” OCSO said in a press release. “The situation rapidly escalated and one of the suspects fired a pistol, leaving the victim fatally wounded.”
Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard noted the fine work by detectives to catch the accused killers.
“I am extremely proud of the work of our Pontiac substation team,” Sheriff Bouchard said in the press release. “Within hours, they have taken two individuals into custody in connection with this homicide.”
On Saturday, supporters of Lee’s work, which led to numerous arrests and criminal charges, remembered him as a person who changed lives, the Post Millennial reported.
“He really changed a lot of lives,” one supporter said. “He really cared about the kids of the community. He wanted to keep everyone’s kids safe, and he was just a really caring person.”
Despite many successful endeavors, Sheriff Bouchard cautioned others that civilian undercover work was dangerous following Lee’s death.
“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 sheriff said.
“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.”
