Man shot with his own gun after picking fight with fellow passenger in New York (video)

A man is critically injured after being shot with his own firearm when he allegedly “aggressively” provoked a fight with a fellow passenger on a moving subway train in New York City.

The NYPD said that the incident unfolded around 4.45 pm on Thursday, March 14, as the train was travelling between stops in downtown Brooklyn.

Michael Kemper, the New York Police Department’s chief of transit, said at a press conference that it began when a 32-year-old man got onto a northbound A train. A 36-year-old man already on the train, who witnesses describe as “aggressive and provocative”, then allegedly approached the other man.

Words were initially exchanged before the verbal altercation escalated into a physical one.

At one point, police said the 36-year-old pulled out a knife or a razor blade – but then put it down while words were still being exchanged.

The fight again became physical and the 36-year-old man pulled out a firearm from his jacket and walked towards the other man “in a menacing way” while yelling at him, police said.

“During this physical confrontation, that gun, we believe, was removed from the 36-year-old by the 32-year-old, and the 32-year-old fired multiple shots, striking the 36-year-old,” Mr Kemper said.

Terrified passengers said that they heard multiple shots ring out as they tried to hide on the carriage floor from the carnage.

The subway pulled into Hoyt Schermerhorn station where officers at the station heard the shots being fired and ran to the scene.

Mr Kemper said that the officers were on the scene within seconds, giving medical assistance, calling an ambulance and rounding up witnesses.

The 36-year-old man – who police said was the “aggressive” individual in the incident – was taken to a local hospital in critical condition. He had surgery on Thursday night.

The 32-year-old man was arrested on the scene. The small calibre firearm was recovered from the scene.

The identities of the two men have not been released but police do not believe they knew each other before the incident.

The transit police chief said officers were working to determine if charges would be filed in the case.

Fellow passengers captured the terrifying ordeal in video footage which was circulated online.

In one video, a woman is heard screaming “let me out” in the packed train carriage, before the sound of shots being fired ring through the air. The train doors open and passengers are seen sprinting off the carriage screaming.

Janno Leiber, the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, said at the press conference that it is “absolutely outrageous” that someone would bring a gun onto the subway and start a fight.

“The victim here, the police said, appears to be the aggressor. But the real victims are the people I saw in those videos who were having a harrowing time because they’re on a train with somebody with a gun,” Mr Lieber said.

Watch the video here.