Brooklyn musician who worked with Busta Rhymes and Grandmaster Melle Mel shot dead in Bensonhurst, suspects at large

A long-time Brooklyn musician who worked with New York hip-hop legends Busta Rhymes and Grandmaster Melle Mel was gunned down during an apparent Thursday night robbery at his apartment building, police said.

George Sanchez, 43, was found in a stairwell between the Bensonhurt building’s second and third floors shortly after 11:30 p.m., and was pronounced dead 40 minutes later at Maimonides Hospital, police said.

He was shot in the left side of his chest, with two men seen fleeing the scene on Bay Parkway near W. 12th St. a in a four-door sedan, said cops. No arrests were made.

Borough native Sanchez, known to friends as “Bishop,” was “so loving, so respectful as an artist,” said Latin Grammy Award-winning friend Violete Galagarza, a choreographer. “He wasn’t the type to show off. He was so happy in the music world.”

While the building’s superintendent said he was initially told that Sanchez was shot in an argument over a parking space, police said they were working the theory that the killing was a robbery gone bad.

“He was a really good guy. Everyone loved him,” said super Charles Ramos, who recalled hearing the gunshots and rushing downstairs to find the NYPD already on the scene.

The victim’s online bio said he was a self-taught guitarist who launched his career in 1996, eventually working with artists like Rhymes and seminal rapper Melle Mel of Grandmaster Flash and the Furious Five.

Sanchez also launched his own clothing line, “Brooknam,” sold through his website, and created videos for himself and other artists, according to his bio.

The super said Sanchez kept a recording studio in his apartment after moving into the building about seven years ago and regularly helped stage neighborhood music festivals.

A longtime friend offered his recollections of growing up in Sunset Park alongside Sanchez, with the pair attending the High School of Performing Arts together.

“He was the most talented person I knew,” said the friend, a videographer who identified himself as Oz. “He could do everything. He could make a beat, he could rap over the beat. He could shoot the video, he could edit the video. He could do the flyer for the video. He was on another level.”

The two pals had just spoken on the phone before the fatal shooting, he recalled.

“He was a funny kid, always drawing,” said Oz. “Just a really cool guy. He pushed me to do my best, because that’s what he did.”

Galagarza recounted her story of the last time she saw the victim, with Sanchez performing at an annual Lehman College musical event.

“He was so passionate on stage with his guitar,” she said. “Just seeing him in his zone, and representing Latinos — I was feeling so proud.”