Dancer’s killing at a Brooklyn gas station under investigation as hate crime

A 28-year-old professional dancer was stabbed to death at a Brooklyn gas station Saturday night in an incident that police are investigating as a homophobic hate crime.

O’Shae Sibley and his friends stopped to fuel up at a Mobil gas station on Coney Island Avenue in Midwood around 11 p.m., on their way home after a day at the beach, according to family and friends. The group was playing Beyoncé’s “Renaissance” album and dancing a modern style called “voguing,” according to a video posted by one of the witnesses on Facebook. Surveillance video from the gas station shows they were shirtless in their bathing suits on a sweltering night.

According to Summy Ullah, an employee of the gas station’s adjoining Bolla Market, Sibley and his friends were approached by a group of men who claimed the flamboyant behavior offended their Muslim faith.

“These people were like ‘we’re Muslim, I don’t want you dancing,” Ullah said in a phone interview Monday. He said that the initial instigators were friends of a man who works at a nearby smoke shop and frequently comes by the gas station to use the restroom.

“The gay people, they were not trying to fight,” said Ullah. “The smoke shop kid and his friend started this.”

When the fight escalated, Ullah stepped out of the store to intervene.

“There’s no point of fighting,” Ullah recalled telling the group. “Just leave,” he said.

Surveillance video from outside the store captured a heated verbal exchange between the two groups. Sibley, tall in pink swim trunks, stands by his buddies as they argue with the other men.

After a few minutes, Sibley and his friends turn to head back to their white sedan. But one of the men in the other group begins filming them with his phone, prompting Sibley and two of his friends to come back to the front of the store to continue the confrontation. A bystander appears to try to come in between the groups to diffuse the situation, but Sibley and the men disappear for a few seconds around the side of the store.

When Sibley is fully visible again, he has been stabbed, and appears stunned on the sidewalk as his friends scramble to stop the bleeding from his wound.

One of those friends was Otis Pena, who posted a Facebook Live video on his profile page Sunday, the day after the incident.

“They killed O’Shae,” he repeats over and over again through tears in that video. “They killed my brother right in front of me. I’m covered in his blood.”

In the Facebook Live video, Pena explains that the beach outing was a celebration for his birthday, and the group had stopped at the gas station because it was two blocks from his home.

“They murdered him, because he was gay, because he stood up for his friends,” Pena said, anguished. “I’m trying to put pressure on the wound, and there’s blood squirting everywhere. Happy birthday to me, right?”

Emergency responders transported Sibley to Maimonides Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.

Tondra Sibley, O'Shae Sibley's aunt, said her nephew had moved to Brownsville, Brooklyn, from his native Philadelphia three years ago, to pursue his dream of being a professional dancer.

He publicly identified as gay, joining an all-queer dance crew organized by choreographer Kemar Jewel for a 2020 project called "Vogue 4 #BlackLivesMatter." Jewel told the Daily News that Sibley was a versatile artist who had a passion for using his dance skills for LGBTQ advocacy.

In 2022, Sibley was part of "An Eclectic Dance to the Music of Time," a dance-video project by Jacolby Satterwhite that was featured in Lincoln Center’s newly reopened David Geffen Hall.

Before moving to New York City in 2019, Sibley had been part of Philadanco, a company known for celebrating and preserving African-American dance traditions.

“He was a gentle spirit,” Tondra Sibley said. “Everyone that knew him knew that he was always smiling… he loved people, he loved dancing, he loved teaching dance.”

She called the killing “senseless” and says she hopes justice will be served.

“Why would a person feel they have the right [to kill] just because they disagree with them? So you’re gonna stab everybody you disagree with? Is that what you’re gonna do?” she said.

Tondra said her nephew was close with his family, including his mother and brother, who still live in Philly. He had been preparing for a trip with his dad to Disney World in Florida this week.

“Everybody’s devastated,” she said.

At the Mobil station on Monday, Sibley’s dried blood still stained the sidewalk next to the convenience store where he was stabbed.

Local residents filled up their cars with gas, mostly unaware of the incident. Many of the residents said they felt safe in the neighborhood, and were surprised by the incident.

“I always feel safe. I’ve been living in Brooklyn for almost 60 years,” said Aron Flohr, who lives in nearby Kensington. “These things happen unfortunately anywhere and everywhere.”

But fellow customer Nick Lewis had a different take. He’s been living in Midwood for four years, he said, and never feels secure.

“The neighborhood all around us. It’s a violent place. A lot of crazy people out here.”

Summy Ullah said he’s been working at the Bolla Market on Coney Island Avenue for five months, and has never witnessed anything like this. He said that he is now thinking of quitting.

“I’m trying to stay away from the fights. I didn’t know that this was going to lead to this,” he said.

Police said the incident is still under investigation, and they have not made any arrests. Meanwhile, Sibley’s friends are mourning their loss.

“O’Shae was the salt to my pepper, the peanut butter to my jelly,” Pena said in his video, adding that they’d been best friends for 15 years.

“He was just saying ‘We may be gay, and we listen to our music, but it’s no hate, it’s all love,’” Pena said. “We may be gay, but we exist. We’re not going to live in fear, we’re not going to live hiding.”

The NYPD said the incident is still under investigation. No arrests have been made.

This story has been updated with additional details.