The manhunt for the suspect who gunned down Dr. Mark Hausknecht in broad daylight two weeks ago ended when he shot himself in the head after being confronted by officers from the Houston Police Department.
A member of Houston's Parks Board reported seeing a suspicious person while he was looking for vandals who had been spray-painting graffiti in the area. As he approached the man, the guy ran off, but he dropped his wallet on the ground. The Parks Board member picked up the wallet and found identification belonging to Joseph Pappas. He immediately called the police, letting them know the man he was chasing was the suspect in the slaying of Dr. Hausknecht.
When officers arrived, Pappas appeared to be ready for them and was wearing body armor. When a second officer arrived, Pappas pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head.
Houston police Chief Art Acevedo said that he believes that Pappas had planned to have a shootout with police, but the second officer spooked him, causing him to shoot himself instead of the police.
"You normally don't put on a bullet proof vest when you're planning to commit suicide," he said. "I'm convinced if we had not had that second officer arrive from a different angle we might have had a shoot-out."