Taxi driver shot in the face

FORT GREENE (WABC) -- The search is on for several passsengers who opened fire on a yellow car driver in Brooklyn.

It was just after six o'clock Thursday morning when residents who live at Lafayette and Franklin Avenues heard a gunshot.

They then heard the driver of a taxi cab, 62-year-old Enois Malbranche, pleading for help.

"He say 'Help me. I've been shot. I've been shot.' And that was it," said Marjorie Hunter.

Police say Malbranche had picked up three female passengers about 2 and a half miles away in Fort Greene. Police said it's likely they tried to rob him.

Investigastors continued to look for those young women. They searched the cab for evidence. They also searched for witnesses in a public housing complex nearby.

Fellow cabbies at the Utica Taxi Company where Malbranche worked called him a great worker.

"He's just the best. Just one of the best. He's long time with us. He's one of the best guys. Never have problems. Nice, nice guy, " his boss, Joe Bross, said.

They believe Malbranche will survive, but because he was shot in the face, his vision may be lost for good.

"We believe that he may lose both eyes, so he might not see again," said Fernando Matteo of the Federation of Taxi Drivers.

This brazen crime has cabbies all over the city taking notice.

"We need to keep focusing on getting illegal guns of the streets and make sure that we keep this industry safe," Matteo said.

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STORY BY: Stacey Sager

WEB PRODUCED BY: Bob Monek

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