A so-called vigilante pedophile catcher was fatally shot over the weekend in Michigan following a confrontation with a young man he had accused of being a sexual predator.
Who is Boopac Shakur?
‘Boopac Shakur,’ 40, whose legal name was Robert Wayne Lee, conducted extrajudicial investigations performed for his tens of thousands of social media followers.
He posed online as a 15-year-old girl to lure alleged sexual predators into meetings and expose them to authorities.
He posted videos of his exploits, some of which appear to show him engaging in violent confrontations with some alleged predators.
Lee, of Pontiac, Michigan, was killed Friday night around 10.30pm at the Universal Coney Island restaurant after confronting two teenagers.
Who killed Boopac Shakur?
The teenagers were 17- and 18-years-old. Lee punched one of them and accused him of being a pedophile.
The teen who was punched then reportedly pulled out a knife, and the other one – believed to be the 17-year-old – pulled out a gun and shot Lee several times.
The social media crusader was taken to the hospital where he later died of his injuries.
The teens fled, but were arrested by police on Saturday afternoon. Their names have not yet been released.
Though Lee’s past crusades have led to the arrests and criminal charges being filed against several men, police maintain that on the whole people like Lee should leave the investigations to the professionals.
Vigilante predator catchers have sometimes caught those meaning to cause genuine harm to children.
However, some have also been seriously injured or destroyed the lives of innocent people.
Lee had, prior to his death, been urged to stop hunting pedophiles on the internet.
.Oakland County Sheriff Michael Bouchard told The Oakland Press early this year that Lee’s videos had a concrete, positive impact. They led to four arrests.
The men apprehended due to Lee’s handy work include Jared Salisbury, 33, who was charged with accosting a child for immoral purposes; Nathanuel Chestnut, 41, who was arraigned on charges that include child-abuse; Jacob Kile Gooden, 36, who was charged last year with accosting a child for immoral purposes; and Randall Ray Fain, 51, who was charged with accosting a child for immoral purposed and is now on the sex offender registry.
