Brooklyn church elder shot trying to keep robber from stealing his gold crucifix

A Brooklyn church elder was shot as he struggled to keep a heartless robber from snatching his gold crucifix Monday, police said.

Francis Gabourel, 56, had just left his home on Quincy St. near Throop Ave. in Bedford-Stuyvesant in his Range Rover when the robber approached him about 11 a.m., cops and witnesses said.

Gabourel was stopped at a traffic light at the end of his block when the armed robber struck. The fiend got away with Gabourel?s crucifix chain but not the cross, which fell off during the struggle, police said.

The mugger?s gun went off as he was trying to take Gabourel?s watch.

Gabourel, an elder who preaches and leads bible group studies at Rehoboth Gospel Assembly Worldwide in Bed-Stuy, was shot in his left wrist and arm.

His wife and daughter, who were home at the time, heard the shots and ran to his aid.

?He said, ?They robbed me - they took the chain and they were trying to get the watch but they couldn?t get it off my wrist,? said his distraught wife, Marilyn, 58, a nurse.

Gabourel remained conscious and was able to describe the robber to cops. Police are looking for a black man, about 20, wearing blue jeans and a blue hoodie.

Gabourel was taken to Kings County Hospital in stable condition.

?I feel very upset,? said his daughter Reeza Lopez, 31. ?He goes to church every time there?s a service.?

With Rocco Parascandola

bpaddock@nydailynews.com

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