A burning smell permeated the streets of Mong Kok as the protesters set fire to rubbish and trash bins – first at Sai Yeung Choi Street South, and then additional bins on other streets.

Black smoke billowed and pierced the sky, vaulting over homes lining Soy Street, the last location where protesters lit a fire before they were dispersed.

If the sight of a Hong Kong policeman firing live ammunition into the sky felt alien, it was just as jarring to see protesters scour for materials from their immediate surroundings to launch assaults in defiance.

Some protesters – many clad in black masks and hoodies – dismantled sign poles, including one bearing the words ‘Soy Street’. At one point, an object flung by protesters shattered through the windows of a police car parked on Nathan Road. The sounds of shattering glass and police sirens seemed to envelop the neighbourhood all night.

For journalists accustomed to covering protests, the atmosphere had never felt more hostile. One group of cameramen and reporters was prevented from taking videos of how various objects were set ablaze. My own attempt to record how bricks were removed from the pavement was also met with an intimidating warning by protesters.

But we are not spared by others either. A policeman in Police Tactical Uniform was heard shouting at journalists that he would arrest them.

The crowd became more and more agitated, as rumblings grew that hawkers had in previous Lunar New Year celebrations been able to operate on the streets without fear of being caught and punished.

Police arrived but left after , and the crowd resumed buying street food on the pavement.

Witnesses on the scene were therefore puzzled when police returned later in the evening, as vehicular traffic was flowing.

READ MORE: Mong Kok hawker protest in pictures: violence erupts on first night of Lunar New Year

But the deal was scuppered as the agitated crowd surrounding them began shouting in Cantonese “we don’t trust you”, directing their venom at the police.

Eventually, police reinforcements massed on Portland Street, pushing the crowd out to the larger thoroughfare Argyle Street.

Curiously, there was almost no police presence on Argyle, a major artery that was occupied during the Umbrella Movement. It was as if the police had not thought the protesters who started on Portland Street might try to take over Argyle Street.

The two shots were fired minutes later after the police officer I saw out of the corner of my eye, joined by a few of his few colleagues, rushed to Argyle. What he would discover was that the street had already been partially occupied. His fellow policemen were fast being outflanked by the gathering crowd on Argyle, who were busy throwing bricks, stones and traffic cones at the men in blue.

I left the scene at 8.30am, the smell of smoke still in the air, and debris slowly being cleared by an army of cleaners.