Moments later, the camera captured and broadcast Robinson's death.
About five-and-a-half minutes into the video, Robinson was approached by someone off-camera. Robinson told the man, who was holding a long black object, that he was on Facebook Live.
Then came gunshots. The camera fell, landing face up so the rest of the Facebook Live video showed the sky and treetops as the suspect ran away. A car could be seen from the edge of the screen arriving to the scene, as the driver or a passenger appeared to have spotted Robinson.
He was found laying down with several gunshot wounds, and was pronounced dead at the scene.
Gay told Fox 46 in Charlotte that Robinson had been identifying suspected drug dealers during some Facebook Live streams. The chief said he had "always suspected the man would've been beat up over it but never shot", Fox 46 reporter David Sentendrey tweeted.
According to Sentendrey, Robinson's family members said he would sometimes "try to help police find drug dealers, even though he had his own demons".
"Sometimes they felt like police were annoyed with him," Sentendrey added.
A person contacted at the Wingate Police Department on Monday night told the Washington Post that no one was immediately available to comment. A suspect was identified and an arrest warrant issued for Douglas Colson. After being on the run for a day Colson turned himself in on Tuesday morning.
The shooting happened near Wingate University, sending the college and nearby Wingate Elementary School into temporary lockdowns, even though the shooting was not on either campus. The university had initially tweeted that shots were fired near a dorm, but the rumours of an active shooter on campus were later quashed by the Union County Sheriff's Office.
Gay told WBTV he was shocked that the shooting happened so close to the police department. Facebook has removed the video from Robinson's profile, and could not be immediately reached for comment. The company announced last year it was hiring 3000 employees to help screen violent live videos before they spread across the network.
