Witness Mark Whitby was on the train as he saw a big man wearing a large coat and "looking absolutely petrified" lurch through the doors.
Admitting to being "totally distraught", he went on: "He half-tripped, was half-pushed to the floor.
"The policeman nearest to me had the black automatic pistol in his left hand, he held it down to the guy and unloaded five shots into him."
Unconfirmed reports suggest the man was involved in Thursday's assault on the capital; it is not known if he had a bomb when shot.
If the suspect is proved to be a suicide bomber, it would mark the fifth attempted terrorist attack on London in less than a day.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We can confirm that just after 10am armed officers shot a male at Stockwell Underground station.
"A man was challenged by officers and subsequently shot. London Ambulance Service attended the scene. He was pronounced dead at the scene."
Can we expect an inquiry to find out the truth behind this shooting, or do the police(if indeed it was a police shooting) now have a licence to kill?
"There may well be reasons why the police felt it necessary to unload five shots into the man and shoot him dead, but they need to make those reasons clear," he said.
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