A NYC subway rider is in critical condition after getting shot in the head at the end of a brutal brawl where he was also stabbed ... and the whole thing was recorded by an onlooker.
This went down Thursday in Brooklyn, where cops say 2 men got into a fight while they were both riding a subway car -- their showdown alarmed nearby commuters, some of whom started shooting video as it got physical.
Police say they were told the man who was shot actually instigated things -- and that seems to be confirmed by the video -- as he squared off with the other guy.
While the 2 men were punching and wrestling each other, a woman enters the fray and apparently stabs one of them in the back -- it appears she was with the other combatant. l
The stabbing victim, who was visibly bleeding, started screaming and asking if she'd stabbed him .. and then fumbles in his jacket pocket for a gun.
The man he was originally fighting ran over and tried to shield his woman ... as the gun-wielding man corners them.
At that point, everyone else in the subway car started running in the opposite direction ... desperately trying to get off, because they've seen the gun. It was a tense and terrifying scene ... and as they were cowering 4 gunshots go off.
Someone captured the aftermath of this -- where you can see cops on the scene attending to the man who was shot ... and as you can see it's the man who originally pulled out the gun.
The other man was eventually cuffed and led away, but it's unclear if he's been charged yet.
NYC officials say it appears the man who was detained wrestled the gun away and fired upon the other man -- no word on whether this will be determined to be self-defense. The man who was shot was eventually rushed away by paramedics, and he's hospitalized in critical condition.