In the heart of Kingstown, St. Vincent, the vibrant pulse of Paul’s Avenue was shattered in the early hours of Saturday, August 16, 2025, when Gasroy Fergusson, belovedly known as DJ Swagga of Boom FM, was brutally gunned down just steps from the radio station where he brought music and energy to countless listeners. The chilling incident, unfolding around midnight, left the community reeling, with one man dead and another fighting for his life, as the specter of violence once again cast a shadow over this bustling neighborhood.
The night was calm until a black vehicle screeched to a halt on Paul’s Avenue, a street lined with businesses and homes, yet no stranger to the echoes of gunfire. According to shaken eyewitnesses, unidentified assailants leapt from the car, their weapons blazing without warning. DJ Swagga, a charismatic figure whose real name was Gasroy Fergusson, was among those caught in the chaos. As he and others scrambled to escape, bullets tore through the air. Fergusson, struck in the leg, collapsed, unable to flee. In a horrifying moment, one of the gunmen stood over him, delivering multiple fatal shots to his head. He was pronounced dead at the scene, his life extinguished in an instant. Another man, whose identity remains undisclosed, was hit in the arm and back, clinging to life as he was rushed to Milton Cato Memorial Hospital for treatment.
Inside the nearby Boom FM studio, the night’s rhythm was broken by what one employee initially mistook for harmless noise—perhaps someone banging on the galvanize fencing during a lively exchange. But the truth was far graver. Checking the station’s security system, the employee glimpsed movement near a neighboring shop and residents peering nervously from their patios. Stepping outside, they were met with a harrowing scene: people scattered, a wounded man pleading for help, and DJ Swagga lying motionless in the street, his body trembling in its final moments. “I don’t even know what to think right now,” the employee later shared, their voice heavy with shock and grief. They described Swagga as a man uninvolved in trouble, speculating he may have been unintended “collateral damage” in a targeted attack.
The loss of DJ Swagga, a cherished voice on Boom FM since the days of the COVID-19 pandemic, has left a void in the station and the community. Dwight “Bing” Joseph, Boom FM’s manager, spoke through his anguish, calling Fergusson one of his favorite employees—a reliable, vibrant soul who would check in if Joseph missed a day at work. “I just can’t believe it,” Joseph said, his words carrying the weight of exhaustion and frustration. For years, he has pleaded on air for greater police presence in Paul’s Avenue, a neighborhood that hosts not only Boom FM but also the National Lotteries Authority, Metrocint General Insurance, and numerous homes where residents sometimes feel like prisoners after dark. “I am tired of this,” Joseph declared, his voice a raw plea for change in an area scarred by recurring violence.
Paul’s Avenue has long been a hotspot for unrest, with this tragedy following a pattern of bloodshed. Just months earlier, on September 13, 2024, Jawanza “Sanga” Fraser was fatally shot in the same area, and a mass shooting on July 19, 2024, left six injured. A year prior, another massacre claimed five lives, including Fraser’s brother, Lamont Hector. Despite a brief period of 24-hour police presence during a gang war around the pandemic, security measures have since dwindled to intermittent patrols, leaving the community vulnerable. A senior national security official’s claim that the “head of the snake” had been eliminated after Fraser’s death now rings hollow in the wake of Swagga’s killing.
As residents returned to the scene after the gunmen fled, whispers of fear and speculation filled the air. Some spoke of the black car, others of the chaos as bullets flew. The Royal St. Vincent and the Grenadines Police Force has launched an investigation, but no suspects or motives have been publicly identified. The community waits, mourning a man who brought joy through music, while grappling with the question of when Paul’s Avenue will find peace. For now, the airwaves of Boom FM carry a somber silence, a tribute to DJ Swagga, whose voice was stolen too soon.
