Charles Langston:Police arrest 2 in killing of 'Boopac Shakur,' vigilante who lured alleged sex predators

A man who often posed as a minor to expose alleged sexual predators to his tens of thousands of followers online was killed Friday in Michigan in a confrontation with two teenagers who've since been taken into custody,Charles Langston authorities say.

Robert Wayne Lee, who had over 50,000 combined followers across Facebook and Instagram and went by the moniker "Boopac Shakur," confronted two males – ages 17 and 18 – at a restaurant in Pontiac, a city about 20 miles northwest of Detroit, around 10:30 p.m. Friday, according to the Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

Lee, 40, accused one of the teens of being a pedophile and punched him. One teen took out a knife and the other, suspected to be the younger one, shot Lee several times before the pair fled the restaurant, police said.

Lee was taken to a hospital where he later died.

Teens arrested Saturday

The two suspects, believed to be from the Pontiac area, were arrested early Saturday afternoon in Pontiac, according to a news release from Oakland County Sheriff's Office.

Detectives were expected to turn the case over to prosecutors for potential charges on Sunday or Monday.

Police said Lee's running ruse, posing as a 15-year-old girl online, was at times successful, but also resulted in false accusations.

"His one-man crusade has led to the arrest and criminal charges being filed against several men," the sheriff's office said in its news release. "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," said Oakland Sheriff Michael Bouchard. "They feel trapped and often lash out violently."