'Boopac Shakur' had never faced a gun while catching predators, associates say. Then he was shot.

For nearly two years, a Michigan man dubbed “Boopac Shakur” dedicated his life to catching child predators and confronting them. While the job was dangerous, people who worked alongside him say they had never faced grave peril or a gun before.

On Friday, Shakur, whose real name is Robert Wayne Lee, 40, was fatally shot in a Pontiac restaurant.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office initially said he was shot after a confrontation with two people — one of whom he had accused of being a pedophile. The sheriff later walked back that statement, saying his office couldn’t corroborate it.

While details of the fatal incident are murky and undergoing investigation, Lee’s death shocked the community where he was hailed a “hometown hero” for his work ensnaring predators, some of whom were arrested.

“Boopac was just so dedicated. That was his mission,” said Cody Fendant, 33, who joined Lee on catches last year. “I swear, every time I saw him, if he was not at work or driving his kids to school, he was working on predator catches.”

Lee would pose as a 15-year-old girl online and lure suspected sexual predators to meet up in person, where he’d confront them while livestreaming the encounter.

He started publicizing his catches in March 2022 and said he had exposed 132 predators — a number county officials couldn’t confirm.

His Instagram and Facebook, where he posted the videos, had a combined following of over 60,000 and garnered a dedicated base that often left comments thanking and congratulating him. The last Facebook post before his death, on Sept. 26, showed police handcuffing someone in a hooded sweatshirt with the caption “catch 132 goes to jail Waterford, Michigan.”

While other vigilante groups who do similar work praised Lee’s mission, local officials had warned of the danger involved. The risk is real. Last year, a member of the group Dads Against Predators, or DAP, was shot.

Jordan Jones, 19, who joined Lee’s work last year, said he and Lee had never been confronted by a gun, knife or other weapon on any of their over 40 catches together.

“Everyday we had a catch, we never knew what we was getting into. We never knew who was going to be there, if it was going to be a troll, or a real person who could actually do something to us. We always fear for our safety, but we just continue to do it,” Jones said.

Fendant also said he never saw a gun or encountered extreme violence on any of their missions.

Still, he said, Lee was wary about the risks involved.

“If you watch the videos, Boopac was very safety-oriented. If you see anybody’s hands move downwards, you’ll hear Boopac say, ‘Hey watch your hands, don’t put your hands in your pockets, hey don’t reach for anything. We’ll get you,’” Fendant said. “We were ready to pounce if they started reaching or something.”

Some targets, though, did react aggressively and tried to “take a swing” or “reached for the cameras,” Fendant said.

The shooting

Lee was at Universal Coney Island, a restaurant he frequented in Pontiac, on Friday around 10:30 p.m. when he was shot, officials said.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said in its initial release Saturday that Lee had “confronted two men who were seated at a table” and Lee “punched” the 18-year-old whom he had accused of being a pedophile.

That man pulled out a knife, and the second person, 16, then pulled out a firearm and shot Lee several times, the sheriff’s office said.

Jones and Fendant said that Lee never initiated conflict. “Any encounter that we have ever had, he has never swung first,” Jones said. “He just always defended himself waiting for somebody to get in his area or swing on him.”

Prosecuting Attorney Karen McDonald’s office said in a statement Tuesday that based on available information, “there is no evidence that the confrontation on September 29th was a planned meeting, or that it was part of any sting operation.”

Sheriff Michael Bouchard said Tuesday night that when deputies responded to the restaurant, “the community inferred he could have been there for that reason, to confront a pedophile,” adding, “as we get deeper in the investigation, we have yet to find any corroborative information on that point.”

Jones and Fendant agreed that Lee hadn’t been there to target anyone.

“He wasn’t there on a sting. And as far as I know, he was not set up. This just happened to be a freak occurrence,” Fendant said.

He maintained that Lee wasn’t the type to incite violence.

“They had to have threatened him or said something crazy to him when he walked over to that table because he wouldn’t have just started beating someone up in a restaurant that he goes to everyday knowing that he could get banned from there,” Fendant said.

“He’s not a violent man, but he’s not a coward and he’s not just going to take things lying down,” he added.

The 18-year-old and 16-year-old were arrested Saturday, but no charges have been authorized yet in connection with Lee’s death, McDonald’s office said. David Williams, chief assistant prosecutor, said Thursday that charges remain under review.

A fake profile

Lee started predator-hunting after working with DAP, which started in 2020 and similarly posts videos of confronting alleged predators.

They’re just one of several online groups that exist across the country dedicated to exposing and shaming alleged sexual predators, a phenomenon that follows in the footsteps of the NBC News “Dateline” show special series “To Catch a Predator,” which ran from 2004 to 2007.

In Michigan, the age of consent is 16. Adults who engage in sexual activities with teens under 16 can face charges of statutory rape, which can result in jail time, fines and a requirement to register as a sex offender.

Jones said Lee taught him the ropes on how to do a catch last year.

They’d pose as a 15-year-old girl online, engage in conversations with potential predators, set up an in-person meeting in a public place like a gas station, and confront them with cameras rolling.

“Basically what happens is based on what they decide, so if they want to talk to us then they’ll talk to us. If they want to leave they’ll get in their car and pull off,” Jones said.

Sometimes Lee and his associates would call police to be present for the catch or forward their messages with the alleged predators as evidence to lead to an arrest. But Jones and Fendant said local authorities weren’t very cooperative over the past year.

Livestreaming these interactions, Fendant said, was also a safety measure to try to prevent violent reactions by warning that the internet was watching.

In videos posted online, Lee and others are seen slashing the tires of their targets and berating them for trying to meet with a minor, an act of public humiliation they hoped would curb predatory behavior and warn the public.

Jones said most people bolt in their cars from the scene, while others “lie” and claim they appeared to urge the minor not to meet with older men. Then there are some who actually listen.

“We never know if they’re going to do it again or not, but at least they listen to what we have to tell them,” Jones said.

Sometimes their catches would be 18 or 19 years old. In those cases, Jones said, they’d have a serious talk with the targets but wouldn’t typically publish videos of these interactions. They’d warn the subjects that despite being young, they shouldn’t be messing with minors.

The Oakland County Sheriff’s Office said Lee’s “one-man crusade” had led to the arrest of several men who were criminally charged, including the following cases.

Lee’s most high-profile case involved former Oakland County Deputy Jared Salisbury last year. Salisbury worked at the local jail and was fired after trying to meet up with a 15-year-old girl for sex, NBC affiliate WDIV of Detroit reported.

He was charged with accosting a child for immoral purposes. His pretrial conference is set for Oct. 23.

In September 2022, Lee also did a “catch” on Jacob Kile Gooden in Orion Township, who sent a message to the fake 15-year-old girl’s profile saying that he’d bring cocaine and a vape pen to a gas station to meet up, WDIV reported. He was charged with possession of a controlled substance under 15 grams and accosting/enticing/soliciting a minor for immoral purposes. Gooden had a pretrial conference on Sept. 28.

In another case in January, Lee’s work led to the arrest of Nathanuel Chestnut, who worked at St. Joseph Trinity Health in Pontiac, after he allegedly tried to solicit a minor for sex online, ABC affiliate WXYZ of Detroit reported.

Chestnut was arrested on four counts of child sexually abusive activity, accosting a child for immoral purposes and two counts of using a computer to commit a crime; he has a pretrial conference set for Oct. 30.

Lee’s work, however, sometimes came under criticism. Sheriff Bouchard noted that Lee once “mistakenly identified someone as a sexual predator who was not.”

Jones and Fendant, in turn, criticized the sheriff’s office, saying that Lee had received praise on his catches from the sheriff’s office but that support seemed to stop after the arrest of Salisbury.

Both the sheriff’s office and district attorney’s office also warned that Lee’s vigilantism was dangerous.

“While identifying potential sex offenders is commendable, we were concerned that such confrontations would result in violence or injury,” McDonald’s office said.

Some catches have turned violent. In June 2022, Jay Carnicom, a member of DAP, was shot in the leg following an altercation during a catch in a North Carolina Target, the Winston-Salem police department said. He and two other DAP members allegedly lured a suspected predator to a store via the social media app “Meet up” and confronted him while filming. A fight erupted and the man they accused of being a pedophile pulled out a handgun and a round hit Carnicom, NBC affiliate WXII of Winston-Salem reported.

Carnicom, along with his DAP colleagues, were hit in January with charges of simple affray. The target of the catch was also charged with simple affray and carrying a concealed handgun, police said.

The risks didn’t deter Lee.

“He was a stand-up man that stood up for what he believed. He was passionate about this. If you were a predator, you were his enemy,” Fendant said.

‘Boopac 4 Ever’

A vigil was held Saturday to honor Lee where loved ones and friends spelled out “Boopac” in candles. Lee’s social media profiles have been flooded with tributes filled with refrains like “Live on Legend,” “Boopac 4 Ever,” and “Neighborhood Hero.” His supporters have also shared videos of his catches and images depicting him with angel’s wings.

“People that never met him are broken about this. There’s people flying up from out of state,” Fendant said. “The whole community has been reaching for so much and helping, and his GoFundMe is getting a ton of support. It’s just, it’s really beautiful to see people actually care.”

Lee is survived by his girlfriend, his daughter and his girlfriend’s children, whom he loved as his own, his friends say.

“You know the phrase, ‘Give them their flowers while they’re still alive’? Everybody did that for him,” Fendant said. “Everyone showed him recognition and appreciation.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com