A 20-year grudge led to the cold-blooded shooting of a Houston doctor as he rode his bicycle to work last month, police say.
Houston police chief Art Acevedo said an arrest warrant was issued for Joseph James Pappas, 65, after cardiologist Mark Hausknecht was shot on a bike path at the Texas Medical Complex at 9 a.m.
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Police say Pappas’ mother died on Hausknecht’s operating table during surgery.
“It appears that this may be a 20-year-old grudge that this man held, and sadly we have a person (who) lost their life,” Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo told reporters.
“There was a lot of planning that went into this. There was a lot of planning and sadly some skill.”
Police identified the suspect as Joseph James Pappas, 65. They said that Pappas’ mother died while the cardiologist, Mark Hausknecht, was performing surgery on her 20 years ago.
Police named Pappas as a suspect in the murder after several people, who were not named, identified him after viewing enhanced surveillance video from a home, Acevedo said.
Police visited the suspect’s home on Tuesday and Wednesday but did not find him, police said.
“He is considered to be armed and dangerous, and people should not try to deal with him directly,” Acevedo said.
Hausknecht was fatally shot on July 20 as he rode his bicycle to work at the city’s bustling medical center, when a man also riding a bicycle fired at least two shots at him before pedaling away.
Hausknecht, who had worked in Houston for about three decades, had once treated Bush for an irregular heartbeat.
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*With files from Global News
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