NYPD suspect Muslim teen in stabbing death of gay dancer who was 'voguing'

The New York Police Department is searching for a 17-year-old Muslim man in connection with the death of 28-year-old professional dancer O'Shae Sibley.

Sibley, who is gay, was stabbed during an altercation with a group of people who approached him and his friends while they danced in a Brooklyn gas station parking lot on Saturday night. The possibility that the attack was motivated by hate has not been ruled out.

According to the New York Post, Sibley and his friends pulled up to the Mobil gas station on Coney Island Avenue just before 11 pm Saturday and started filling up. They soon began "voguing" to a Beyonce song dressed in only their swim trunks.

Voguing, a "highly stylized form of dance created by black and Latino LGBTQ communities," originated in Harlem in the 1980s, and is still popular among members of those groups to this day.

Shortly after Sibley and his friends started dancing, however, they were confronted by a group of men, including a Muslim teen. An altercation broke out, and Sibley was stabbed in the chest. Surveillance footage of the incident showed his attacker getting into a black SUV and driving off leaving him to suffer. Sibley was rushed to Maimonides Medical Center, but was soon pronounced dead.

One of Sibley's friends, Otis Pena, posted about the incident on Facebook, mourning the loss of his "brother" and accusing his killers of being motivated by hate.

"They hate us cause we are gay," he wrote. "Screaming we Muslim and we don't like gays!!!!! As we are innocently pumping gas and y'all decided to stab one of us!!!"

Pena included numerous photos from the scene showing his hand red from Sibley's blood, which also covered the sidewalk where he was killed.

Sibley moved to New York from Philadelphia to pursue a career in dancing. He has been remembered as "funny, unique, charismatic and [someone who] always knew how to have a good time."

His death caused widespread outrage, and even caught the attention of Mayor Eric Adams. "This young man was experiencing a hate crime," he said. "We will find this person. It shakes our confidence."