Bush-doc slayer in suicide

Cops were closing in

The man suspected of gunning down former President George H.W. Bush’s cardiologist committed suicide as police closed in on him Friday morning, according to police officials.

Joseph Pappas (right) shot himself in the head after he was confronted by an officer in a quiet neighborhood in southwest Houston, law-enforcement sources said.

Police had been hunting Pappas for allegedly shooting Dr. Mark Hausknecht on July 20 as the heart surgeon rode his bike to work at Houston Methodist Hospital.

Pappas, 62, was wearing a bulletproof vest at the time of his suicide, according to Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo.

A skilled marksman who worked for years in law enforcement, Pappas kept an extensive file on the doctor, which investigators found at his home, police said.

He held a long-running grudge against Hausknecht — who operated on his mother 20 years ago. She died on the operating table.

A city employee first spotted Pappas near the Brays Bayou Greenway Trail and approached him but Pappas walked away, Acevedo said at a press conference. The worker found a wallet that was left behind containing Pappas’ identification.

The employee called police several times to provide updates on Pappas’ location — allowing an officer to move in on him near the intersection of Bob White Drive and Imogene Street.

Pappas refused to show his hands to the officer and killed himself when a second cop arrived, according to reports.

Acevedo said a shootout would have occurred had cops not cornered Pappas.

“Police had indicated that the man had evidently shot himself, that the police evidently were coming up to him and asking him to put his hands up, and he put one arm up and . . . evidently the man pulled out his gun and shot himself,” a neighbor said.

Police said Pappas, on a bicycle, followed bike-riding Hausknecht before murdering him in broad daylight. The doctor was shot three times, including in the head and torso.

Hausknecht treated Bush for an irregular heartbeat in 2000.