Editor's Note: This post has been updated. A disturbing story has come out of Des Moines, Iowa, as a well-known high-school football coach who has seen four of his players reach the NFL was shot dead by a former player in the school's weight room Wednesday morning. Fifty students were apparently in the school when the shooting occurred.
Ed Thomas, the football coach at Aplington-Parkersburg High School who was named NFL High School Coach of the Year in 2005, was shot around 8 AM local time. He was flown to the hospital, where he died shortly thereafter.
A 24-year-old former Aplington-Parkersburg High School student and football player has been arrested in the shooting death of Ed Thomas, the district's long-time football coach. Mark Daryl Becker, who has been charged with first-degree murder, was arrested at a rural Parkersburg residence shortly after the shooting, an official from the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation said during a press conference this afternoon.Thomas was an accomplished coach who accumulated almost 300 wins in his career, which included nearly three decades at Aplington-Parkersburg. No students were injured in the shooting, though some witnessed the tragedy.
It appears that Becker, 24, was troubled before the shooting. According to reports, Becker was involved in a high speed chase on Saturday with police that resulted in Becker striking a deer going nearly 90 MPH.
The Saturday chase began after Parkersburg police were alerted by Cedar Falls police about an incident at a residence in which Becker allegedly broke out windows with a baseball bat and drove into the garage door causing more than $1,000 damage.A terrible story gets worse once you read about what Thomas has meant to the community. Parkersburg was ravaged by a tornado this past summer, and the head coach went out of his way to help restore the football field that meant so much to the community. Here is video of Thomas talking about the devastation.
Becker on Sunday was charged with eluding, speeding, reckless driving and failure to obey a stop sign.
He received a four-day jail term with the remaining 86 days suspended on the assault charge. He also was charged with underage possession of alcohol in August 2004 and pleaded guilty to that charge a month later.
"Why would anyone want to do something like this?" said former Iowa defensive coordinator Bob Elliott, who works in the athletic department at San Diego State. "He's the best. He's the best of the best."Thoughts and prayers are with his family and the students involved in this horrible shooting.
Elliott knew Thomas through recruiting of former Parkersburg stars Casey Wiegmann, Jared DeVries and Aaron Kampman.
"I talked to Ed after the tornado, and he was clearly devastated," Elliott said. "He was walking around the football field, cleaning up debris when I talked to him. He didn't have a cell phone, so the school gave him one because they knew everybody in the country would be trying to get in touch with him.
"That's how well-liked Ed was. That community has turned out a lot of NFL guys, but it was Ed Thomas who was the face of the community."
Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Capital punishment should be legal in all 50 states.
What makes a person do something like this the shooter must been really ticked off it had to be a reason hope all the info cmes out.
I am NOT condoning this behavior or excusing it so please don't take this the wrong way, but while some of these cases are the result of criminal minds, this is most likely the result of one where the young man is severely mentally ill. He will end up in the general prison population with no hope of any real help. Coach Thomas' life was a loss; let's not compound that by wasting another life.
Welcome to America.....
sounds like roid rage to me
CALL IT WHAT IT IS !
IT'S CALLED DEMONIC POSSESSION..
PEOPLE OF SOUND MINDS DONT REACT IN THIS MANNER
THEY ARE DRIVEN BY UNNATURAL FORCES CAUSE BY DRUGS, ALCOHOL ABUSE OR MENTAL INSTABILITY.
PREPARE YOURSELVES OR BECOME A VICTIM YOURSELF..........
Dude...go sit down and take your meds. The White coat will be here soon to take you to lala land
There was a time when all the idiots and morons were put in sanitoriums, now there living next door to you.... this is what happens when the meek inheret the earth, natural selection disapears.
haha what? meek inherit the earth?
you're acting like senseless killing is an American thing.
sorry but people have been killing each other like this since the dawn of man.
crazy people are everywhere and you can't always stop them.
I say get a rope. Hang em high!
I hope the truth does come out, but still won't make any sense. Rest In Peace Coach Thomas!
Most all of the football coaches in america are natural born (PRICKS).This guys head must of been so big like most all of them. They all abuse there authority!Anyone who sleeps,breaths, football seriously has some closet issues!!! I hope that all of the other remainder football (PRICK) coaches get a clue??? In this country YOU can be gunned down to death at any moment of your life! Don't be a PRICK ! ! ! Understand what go's around comes around...........
THE KID MAY HAVE FELT THAT THE COACH VICTIMIZED HIM IN SOME FORM OR FASHINON
I wish it weren't true that this type of thing is most visible in America, but it is. It truely is a sad thing someone like Coach Thomas is taken from us, especially like this. There is no reason to do this to someone else. Someone here said he was a prick, if thats the case dont play football, thats how things get done. The coach has to push his players to do the best they can, if you dont understand that you have no reason to be on the field, even as a cheerleader....