The bystander’s role is changing in the era of livestreaming. North Carolina’s standoff shows how

Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department officers walk in the neighbourhood where a shooting took place in Charlotte, N.C., Monday, April 29, 2024. The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department says officers from the U.S. Marshals Task Force were carrying out an investigation Monday afternoon in a suburban neighborhood when they came under gunfire. — AP

CHARLOTTE: Saing Chhoeun was locked out of his Charlotte, North Carolina, home on Monday as law enforcement with high-powered rifles descended into his yard and garage, using a car as a shield as they were met with a shower of gunfire from the direction of his neighbour’s house.

As bullets flew just feet away, Chhoeun took out his phone and started livestreaming the standoff between officials and a man wanted for possession of a firearm by an ex-felon and fleeing to elude.