High school coach who was shot coached four NFL players
Terrible news this morning out of Parkersburg, Iowa (about 80 miles northeast of Des Moines), as Aplington-Parkersburg High School head football coach Ed Thomas was shot and killed in the school's weight room facility just before 8:30 a.m.
Thomas, 58, was the NFL High School Coach of the Year in 2005, and coached four future NFL players — Brad Meester of the Jaguars and Jared DeVries of the Lions, and Pro Bowlers Casey Wiegmann of the Broncos and Aaron Kampman of the Packers. He won 292 games in his 37 seasons coaching, including state titles in 1993 and 2001.
Thomas was also instrumental in making sure the A-P football team played its 2008 season, just months after most of the town (including the school) was leveled by a deadly tornado. E:60's Steve Cyphers profiled Thomas at that time (see below).
Sadly ironic that the old shed Thomas converted to a weight room after the tornado would be the sight of his death.
This is what Iowa Gov. Chet Culver had to say about Thomas this morning: "It's just awful. My thoughts and prayers are for Coach Thomas and his family and the Parkersburg community. I know him well. I've been a real fan of his. As an old coach myself, he epitomizes what it means to be a high school football coach.
"He's just a legend. He's an incredible role model for the generations of kids in the Parkersburg area. He's someone that I really admire a great, great deal. He was instrumental in bringing Parkersburg back (after the 2008 tornado)."
A suspect has been taken into custody, but his/her identity has not been released. Butler County Sheriff Jason Johnson characterized the suspect as "a young individual."
According to school board secretary Sue Miller, the shooter is not a student at the school. Several students were in the weight room at the time of the attack, but no one else was injured.
***UPDATE***: The gunman has been identified as 24-year old Mark Becker, who played for Thomas at A-P. Becker has been charged with first-degree murder and is being held in Butler County Jail.
-Chris Mascaro
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