'Boopac Shakur,' known for exposing pedophiles online, fatally shot in Michigan after confronting two teens

A Michigan man who claimed to expose child predators online for his large social media following was fatally shot Friday night after he confronted two teenagers he believed to be pedophiles.

Robert Wayne Lee, 40, also known online as "Boopac Shakur," reportedly exposed potential child predators by posing as a 15-year-old girl online in an effort to lure and expose pedophiles, the Oakland County Sheriff's Office said, according to CNN.

The outlet previously published a lengthy piece about how online predators operate.

Lee had published several videos of his revelations to Facebook and Instagram, where he has 12,000 and 45,000 followers respectively. In some of the videos he posted, the viewer could see him engaging in violent altercations with the alleged predators. Police officers were also featured in some of his content.

On Friday night, Lee reportedly confronted two teenagers — a 17- and 18-year-old — at a restaurant located in Pontiac, Michigan. Lee apparently accused one of the teenagers of being a pedophile and punched him, according to the report.

The teen who was punched pulled out a knife, and the second teenager, the 17-year-old, pulled out a firearm and shot Lee several times. Lee was quickly taken to a hospital and ultimately died of his injuries.

Though the suspects fled the scene after the altercation, the police arrested both of them on Saturday. However, the names of the two suspects have not been released.

While Lee's tactics have led to the arrest and charges of several men, the police report stated that "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 engaged in this don’t know the standard of evidence required for convictions and often underestimate the potential for violence confronting a suspected predator,” Sheriff Michael Bouchard said.

The report noted that in at least one case, Lee's efforts led to the arrest of a former police officer.

Lee is not the only individual who has taken it upon himself to expose child predators online. There was a similar operation referred to as Colorado Ped Patrol, which recently had its YouTube channel demonetized for reasons that are unclear.

There is also a group known as Dads Against Predators, which Vice made a documentary about just under a year ago.

However, some members of law enforcement have expressed reservations about citizens carrying out such efforts, given that many individuals are not in law enforcement and therefore could unwittingly botch an investigation.

Pontiac man known as ‘Boopac Shakur’ fatally shot Friday eveningwww.youtube.com

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