Iowa Football Coach Ed Thomas Shot & Killed By Former Student Mark Becker (Mugshot Photo)

Mark Becker, 24, (in mugshot photo above) is a  former high school football player that walked into the school’s weight room Wednesday morning and fatally shot his former coach, Ed Thomas. Read more and see photos of well-known Iowa coach Ed Thomas below.

Becker walked in and shot Ed Thomas, and later was arrested at a nearby home.

Mark Becker shot Aplington-Parkersburg High School football coach Ed Thomas several times with a handgun at around 8 a.m., police said. Coach Ed Thomas was flown by helicopter to a nearby Waterloo hospital, where he died.

There were several students in the room when Ed Thomas was shot, but none were injured, said Kevin Winker, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

“The people that were present were not threatened in any way,” Winker said.

Mark Becker is charged with first-degree murder and is being held in Butler County jail.

Winker said Becker was arrested at a home in rural Parkersburg shortly after police received the 911 call about the shooting.

Winker was not able to discuss Mark Becker’s motive for the shooting of Ed  Thomas.

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

“Mr. Becker’s entire past is being looked at,” Winker said.

From the Associated Press:

Ed Thomas had a career record of 292-84 in 37 seasons as a head coach, 34 of them at Aplington-Parkersburg, and was one of the most well-known high school football coaches in Iowa. He was honored as the NFL High School Coach of the Year in 2005, and four of his former players are in the NFL: Green Bay’s Aaron Kampman, Jacksonville’s Brad Meester, Detroit’s Jared DeVries and Denver’s Casey Wiegmann.

Our condolences to Ed Thomas’ family.

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Posted by: Monya

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