What to Know
- A man dancing at a gas station in Brooklyn was stabbed to death after a dispute broke out between two groups Saturday night -- and a 17-year-old is now being sought in connection to the shocking death of dancer O’Shae Sibley.
- Law enforcement sources have identified the suspect as a teen who remains at large.
- Those who knew Sibley as a talented dancer and certainly a friend, have no doubt that his murder was a hate crime.
A man dancing at a gas station in Brooklyn was stabbed to death after a dispute broke out between two groups Saturday night -- and a 17-year-old is now being sought in connection to the shocking death of dancer O’Shae Sibley.
Law enforcement sources have identified the suspect as a teen who remains at large.
Those who knew Sibley as a talented dancer and certainly a friend, have no doubt that his murder was a hate crime.
Sibley, 28, belonged to several dance troupes in the area. He was killed in a gas station on Coney Island Avenue in Midwood following a dispute over him dancing at the pump. At one point, an attendant from the gas station tried to intervene.
Witnesses say a back and forth followed after Sibley, who worked with several troupes, started voguing in the style of many LGBTQ ballrooms. As all of this escalated, Sibley was stabbed in the chest, and pronounced dead at a local hospital.
Get Tri-state area news delivered to your inbox.> Sign up for NBC New York's News Headlines newsletter.
"He had a problem with them dancing, he wanted them to stop dancing, he started arguing with them. And then after a few fights and back and forth arguing, he pulled out a knife and stabbed him," witness Sayeda Haider said.
News
Law enforcement sources say the suspect fled the scene in a black SUV. NBC 4 New York spoke to a neighbor who knew Sibley on Monday morning. The neighbor, who is also a member of the LGBTQ+ community, said he was worried about the 28-year-old’s safety.
"I texted him that morning to tell him I wanted to talk to him, to tell him to tell his friends to be careful, you know, because you have to be careful how you present yourself," Beckenbaur Hamilton said. "They don’t live in the neighborhood we live in, it’s a very homophobic neighborhood and they were out here dancing."
"There is no progress. Progress? Yes. But we here don't see it. We have to live stifled," Hamilton continued. "We live here in a community where we have to pretend to be somebody else."
Mayor Eric Adams addressed the city's overall crime on Monday, citing improvements to public safety, but acknowledged random acts of violence.
"We have an incident like we saw over the weekend where this young man was experiencing a hate crime, we will find this person. It shakes our confidence," Adams said.
The investigation is ongoing.
