Suspect wanted after man killed at DC recreation center: police

WASHINGTON - A suspect is on the run after police say he shot a man to death at a D.C. recreational center.

D.C. police announced a big reward in this case on Wednesday, and Mayor Muriel Bowser also announced a plan to bolster the department and drive down violent crime.

This all comes, of course, as President Donald Trump’s federalization of the department is now in its fourth week. 

What we know:

A 36-year-old man we know was shot to death, in broad daylight at a playground on Labor Day in D.C. 

Police have identified that victim as Francois Adkins. 

MPD hasn’t released a motive in this case but they do say Adkins was shot at the playground and park area of the recreation center on 14th Street, NE, just after 4 p.m. on Labor Day. 

MPD and U.S. Marshals are now offering up a $40,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest and conviction in this case.

Adkin's case is the fourth reported homicide in D.C. since the president’s takeover. 

The urgent reward comes as Mayor Bowser announced new efforts to bolster the department and in turn drive down violent crime, including a new 13 percent pay raise for most of the force. 

What they're saying:

A man who lives across the street from the shooting told FOX 5 that he was surprised to hear about the shooting and also said he supports the mayor's initiatives to increase local police presence, which he strongly prefers over federal intervention. 

"I think it's brilliant. They’re very important. We appreciate them. Seeing them around gives that sense of security. I come from Minneapolis, who have had their own issues, obviously. Getting police in is important, so I appreciate the mayor taking that initiative," he said. "I think if the president was true to his word he’d be about local control, so we feel most confident when we see local police here." 

Bowser also said on Wednesday that she wanted to be explicitly clear about the fact that she wants D.C. out of President Trump’s crime emergency—essentially saying she wants the District to have the ability to request federal assistance as needed, not have MPD officers compelled to participate with the feds, like ICE agents for example, as they are now. 

"Our primary concern is violent crime. How do we get guns? How do we keep people from using them? How do we drive down carjackings, use of guns and homicides in the city?" Bowser said. "We’ve been driving it down for two years, it got accelerated and we want it to keep accelerating, so how do we do that? So our deployment and our resources have to be used on violent criminals, and I can’t say ICE activity is getting violent criminals for the most part."

Dig deeper:

Trump’s emergency takeover order was supposed to expire next week, but according to a Department of Defense memo obtained by FOX 5 on Thursday, the National Guard will remain deployed in Washington, D.C. until Nov. 30.

The 30-day deployment was supposed to end on Sept. 10. 

Meanwhile, the White House doubled down on the President’s efforts, touting more than 1,800 arrests and 188 illegal firearms seized since the takeover began on August 11. 

The latest seizures include 81 additional arrests and 13 more illegal firearms recovered yesterday, with one firearm found at a school in downtown Washington, D.C.

Attorney General Bondi has stated that the mission is "making the nation's capital safe again for all Americans."

Anyone with information on the suspect in Adkin's death is asked to call D.C. Police at 202-727-9099.