Gang, Drug Activity Blamed : Homicides in 1988 Reach Record High of 104 in City

Homicides in the city of San Diego have reached a record high with more than three months left in the year.

The death of a man early Tuesday brought the number of 1988 homicides to 104, surpassing the previous high of 103 slayings reported during 1984, police spokesman Bill Robinson said. (The 1984 figure included the deaths in a San Ysidro McDonald’s restaurant, when a gunman opened fire and killed 21 people.)

“Once people were killing each other when they were somehow provoked, now it’s beginning to appear that people are killing other people for no reason at all,” Robinson said.

Robinson said the local increase in gang activity and narcotics use and distribution is partly to blame.

“A lot of innocent people have been involved in these homicides, and that’s also because of the pervasiveness of narcotics and gang-related killings,” Robinson said.

“It’s unquestionable the cause-and-effect relationship between drugs, gangs and the increase in homicides,” Capt. Dave Warden said. “That’s why we’ve increased our details in gang- and drug-related areas.”

In the latest suspected gang-related killing, a 19-year-old Paradise Hills man was shot Monday at the edge of the Morse High School grounds by two men who were chasing him. The victim, identified by police as Weber Leodones Gabriel of the 1600 block of Gilmartin Drive, tried to flee toward the school’s athletic field, but was caught by one of the two men and shot once in the head with a handgun. He died early Tuesday.

Classes at the school had ended shortly before Gabriel, a freshman at Southwestern College in Chula Vista, was killed.

“We’ve had about 20 gang-related homicides so far this year,” police gang detail Lt. Michael Hentigan said, “in comparison to a total of eight for 1987.

“The increase in drug proliferation throughout the city is the main factor with gang-related killings, especially among black gangs,” Hentigan said. “The Hispanic gangs are cyclical and they are not killing each other like they were two or three years ago.”

Ninety-two slayings were reported in 1985, 97 in 1986, and 94 in 1987, according to police records. Before 1984’s high, 75 slayings were reported in 1983, 70 in 1982, and 87 in 1981.

Killings by homeowners of burglars, by police officers in the line of duty or by anyone in a case in which the district attorney’s office finds the killing justified are not included in homicide statistics.

Robinson said Police Chief Bob Burgreen has pledged action and said he has noticed an increase in the residents concerned with violence in their neighborhoods.

“We are a large city, and some type of increase in crime in general is expected,” Robinson said.