Teen charged with homicide of vigilante paedophile hunter ‘Boopac Shakur’
The unnamed 17-year-old was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon and felony firearm
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A Michigan teen who had been suspected of killing a vigilante paedophile hunter, known online as “Boopac Shakur,” has been formally charged with homicide.
Robert Wayne Lee, 40-year-old Boopac Shakur’s real name, was fatally shot on 29 September 2023 at the Universal Coney Island restaurant in Pontiac, Michigan.
The unnamed 17-year-old was also charged with carrying a concealed weapon and felony firearm, the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office announced on Friday, 23 February.
Lee allegedly entered a restaurant in Pontiac, where the teen, then 16, and his 18-year-old friend were already seated at a booth. Security camera footage captured Lee approaching the 18-year-old “before engaging him in a physical altercation,” the release states.
That’s when the 16-year-old allegedly whipped out a semi-automatic firearm from his waistband, aimed it at Lee and fired “multiple rounds.” The two teens then fled the restaurant.
Lee later died as a result of his injuries.
The prosecutor’s office once again shot down a former theory that Lee had been killed during one of his predator hunts, writing “There is no evidence that the shooting was related to any ‘sting’ operation.”
“This is a tragic incident,” Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald said. “A physical altercation turned deadly almost instantly because this individual chose to illegally carry a concealed, deadly weapon, and then to use it. The vast majority of gun violence deaths, including this one, are preventable.”
The prosecutor’s office said the teen will be tried as an adult, but ultimately the judge will decide whether, if convicted, to sentence the 17-year-old as a juvenile or an adult. The judge could also give a “blended sentence,” which incorporates both “juvenile rehabilitation and adult punishment.”
The teen has been in custody ever since the September shooting on unrelated charges over an alleged shooting in Pontiac just nine days before Lee was shot, officials said. In that case, the 17-year-old faces charges of assault with intent to murder and felony firearm.
Lee often posed online as a 15-year-old girl to expose alleged predators and would sometimes bring the collected information to law enforcement.
“Mr Lee’s conduct has never been sanctioned or encouraged by law enforcement or the Oakland County Prosecutor’s Office. While identifying potential sex offenders is commendable, we were concerned that such confrontations would result in violence or injury,” the prosecutor’s office said in a previous statement.