Murder Is No Dying Business in San Diego : Crime: The homicide rate for 1990 may give the city its deadliest year on record. Officials say drugs, gangs and growth are to blame.

San Diego is on a killing pace that would surpass its deadliest year, when 163 people died from homicides two years ago.

Law enforcement officials say the proliferation of drugs, gang violence and the city’s rising population all have contributed to the tally of 126 homicides through the end of September.

In 1988--the city’s worst year for murder--124 people died during that same nine-month period.

Criminal homicides also are on a record pace. This year, 111 murders--or criminal homicides--took place by the end of September. In 1988, the city had 109 murders at the end of September.

Police describe criminal homicides as intentional killings. Other homicides are the result of accidents or slayings by police.

“We are certainly working very hard, and there isn’t a whole lot of time when we’re not trying to solve homicides,” said Lt. Dan Berglund. “We’ve been on a record pace this year.”

Police officials say an increase in gang violence--29 people have died in gang-related murders over the past two years--are two of the leading causes for the high number of deaths.

Police also cited the the flow of drugs across the U.S.-Mexico border. Officials say that five of every six male prisoners charged with felonies have traces of illegal drugs in their system.

Both this year and in 1988, the city had a high number of police shootings. Ten people died in 1988 at the hands of police. Nine have been killed this year.

A serial killer in the Clairemont-University City area is believed responsible for the murders of five women. Four of the women were between 18 and 21 years old. The fifth was the mother of one of the victims.

Homicide statistics show that of the 111 murders this year, 11 were gang-related, 14 were related to narcotics, 12 were the result of domestic disputes and 74 were related to robberies, burglaries, the serial killings and other factors.

A statistical analysis of this year’s first 99 murders provided to The Times on Friday by police shows that 56% were committed with a gun, 23% with a knife and 21% with another weapon or by someone’s hands.

Men were suspects in 97% of the cases and victims 81% of the time, figures that are consistent with last year.

But 43% of the victims and 47% of the suspects were Latino, a large increase over last year. In 1989, 35% of the suspects were black and 35% Latino. That same year, 37% of murder victims were Latino and 33% black.

Statistics also show that the majority of suspects are older than last year.

In 1989, the largest percentage of suspects were between 18 and 24. This year, the majority are between 25 and 34. A greater percentage of victims this year--64%--are between 25 and 49. Last year, victims in the same age group totaled 46%.

FBI figures for 1989 showed that San Diego had the lowest murder rate--11 murders per 100,000 population--of the nation’s 10 largest cities. In 1988, San Diego--sixth-largest city in the country--had 13.6 murders per 100,000 people.