Iowa high school coach is killed

A high school coach who helped launch several professional football careers was gunned down in front of students Wednesday by a former player who may have had psychiatric problems, authorities said.

Mark Becker unloaded several rounds into Aplington-Parkersburg High School football Coach Ed Thomas and was arrested in the driveway of his parents’ home soon afterward, said Kevin Winker, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Becker on Saturday was to have been taken to a hospital psychiatric ward after allegedly leading police on a high-speed chase, Winker said.

Winker said he couldn’t discuss what Becker’s motive might have been for the shooting or what he might have been doing in the days before.

“Motive is one of those things we’re looking into,” he said.

School was not in session and Becker did not threaten any of the students present, Winker said.

Thomas, 58, died at a hospital in nearby Waterloo. His shooting stunned Parkersburg, a rural community of 1,800 residents about 110 miles northeast of Des Moines, and it reverberated through NFL circles.

“Coach Thomas was very special to me and many other young men from the Aplington-Parkersburg communities,” said Green Bay Packers linebacker Aaron Kampman. “His legacy for many will be associated with his tremendous success as a football coach. However, I believe his greatest legacy comes not in how many football games he won or lost but in the fact that he was a committed follower of Jesus Christ.”

One of Thomas’ sons said he was most proud of his father’s involvement in his church, where he served as an elder. Aaron Thomas thanked the community for its support.

He also asked at an afternoon news conference that people keep Becker’s family in their thoughts.

Named by the NFL as the 2005 high school coach of the year, Ed Thomas amassed a 292-84 record and two state titles in 37 seasons as a head coach -- 34 of them at Aplington-Parkersburg. He coached several players who went on to the NFL, including Kampman, Jacksonville Jaguars center Brad Meester, Detroit Lions defensive end Jared DeVries, and Denver Broncos center Casey Wiegmann.

Becker, 24, was charged with first-degree murder and was being held in Butler County Jail.

Cedar Falls Police Chief Jeff Olson said Wednesday that Butler County sheriff’s deputies had arrested Becker on Saturday after a chase through two counties. Deputies agreed to take him to a hospital psychiatric ward and requested that Cedar Falls police be notified when he could be released. Cedar Falls police didn’t hear anything more, Olson said.

Winker said Becker had been taken to a Waterloo hospital, but he would not comment on what treatment Becker had received or why Cedar Falls police weren’t notified of his Tuesday release. Becker spent Tuesday night at his parents’ house, according to Jeff Jacobson, a special agent with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.