Iowa football coach

[barberforprez]

So I am sitting here watching ESPN, and they just broke the story that an Iowa football coach was shot in the weight room this morning and died. They don't have much more information on it yet. I just can't imagine why someone would walk into the weight room and kill the coach. Maybe an angry parent who was mad that he benched their kid.

[DCfan60]

That is nuts, but murder always is.. barber post more when you find out more.

[DCfan60]

Hree is a bit of info being released so far.

Associated Press


TIMELINE: Coach shot in weight room (http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=958983) | Coach passes after shooting (http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=958982) | Former player charged (http://highschool.rivals.com/content.asp?CID=959041)
PARKERSBURG, Iowa - A 24-year-old former high school football player walked into the school's weight room Wednesday morning and fatally shot his former coach, before sheriff's deputies arrested him at a nearby home a short time later, authorities said.
Mark Becker shot Aplington-Parkersburg High School football coach Ed Thomas several times with a handgun after walking into the room at about 8 a.m., authorities said. Thomas was rushed to nearby Waterloo hospital, where he died.
Several students were in the room at the time of the shooting, but none were injured, said Kevin Winker, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. School was not in session Wednesday.
"The people that were present were not threatened in any way," Winker said.
Becker is charged with first-degree murder and was being held in Butler County jail.
Winker said Becker was arrested without incident at a home in rural Parkersburg shortly after authorities received a 911 call about the shooting.
He said he couldn't discuss what Becker's motive for the slaying might have been, or what Becker might have been up to in the days leading up to the shooting.
"Motive is one of those things we're looking into," Winker said.
Winker said Becker used a handgun in the shooting. He did not elaborate.
He said investigators plan on interviewing students who were in the weight room and to look into Becker's past.
"Mr. Becker's entire past is being looked at," Winker said.
The school is in Parkersburg, about 80 miles northeast of Des Moines.
Thomas compiled 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.

[barberforprez]

Thanks DCFan that adds a lot. Very sad, can't imagine being one of the guys in the locker room when the coach was shot.

[DCfan60]

those shots being fired, I would have done my fire drill.. stop drop and roll somewhere to hide..
What is strange is that the dude was 24, been out of school for a while I would think since the story says a high school coach, what after all these years made him go back.

[SmilesAustin]

I live in Iowa, and this has been a sad day. Iowa is a small state, population-wise, so everybody kinda knows everybody. Here's a few more details that you guys may or may not know that makes this story so much worse.

The murderer was a former football player, as they said. No motive just yet, but he was just arrested 4 days ago for breaking out all the windows of someone's house with a baseball bat. The Sherriff decided that he needed a psychiatric evaluation and some medical attention, so they released him to a local hospital.

The local hospital was supposed to inform the Sherriff's office when they were done treating him so that he could be brought back into custody. There was a mix-up and the Sherriff's office was not notified that he was being released from the hospital. He spent the night at his parents' house, and then murdered that coach this morning.

That's the part that concerns me. This guy was supposed to be in custody and due to a mixup between the hospital and the Sherriff, he was allowed to leave when he was obviously having psychiatric problems.

Another downside of the story is that the town of Parkersburg, Iowa is a town that is actually still rebuilding from a horrible tragedy last year. A little over a year ago, a large tornado tore through that town and just completely tore it apart. Houses and businesses were destroyed. It's a very small town... everybody knew coach Thomas. Just a very rough time for that town.

[CowboyzAdam]

The only thing that goes through my head in all of this as I learn more details is..."What Is Wrong With People?" Very sad indeed!

[DCfan60]

I am confused about the 6 years after high school. Does he maybe have a younger brother on the team or something.. did the coach kick him off.. it is just so weird..

[SmilesAustin]

The latest rumor I heard last night was that he was denied a coaching job last week with the high school.

It doesn't excuse it (of course) but the AP football program in parkersburg is widely considered among the best in the nation. I believe there are 4 current NFL players from that small high school of about 265 students. The killer was definitely mentally ill, but at least this explains why he targeted that coach.

[DCfan60]

Thanks Zac for sharing the info..

[CowboyzAdam]

Also I am not putting the blame on the Sheriff's department or the Hospital for the guy pulling the trigger. That is not fair. That is 100% on him and he has to own that regardless of his mental state. But both sides...Sheriff & Hospital (More so the Hospital) Dropped the ball big time. I see a HUGE Lawsuit coming from this. It will not bring the victims back but you just know they are going to sue sue sue.

[SmilesAustin]

Just an example of how close-knit this community is: Yesterday (the day this happened) the dead coach's son got on the local news station and asked everyone to pray for the murderer's family. He said that in times like these, it's easy to forget that his family did nothing wrong, and they're going through an incredibly hard time as well. This morning, the murderer's family got on the news and asked for prayers for the coaches family, and said that Ed and Jan (coach and wife) will always be their brother and sister in Christ.

It's not often that you have a situation like this. The murderer's family and the coach's family even went to the same church every Sunday.

[CowboyzAdam]

Just an example of how close-knit this community is: Yesterday (the day this happened) the dead coach's son got on the local news station and asked everyone to pray for the murderer's family. He said that in times like these, it's easy to forget that his family did nothing wrong, and they're going through an incredibly hard time as well. This morning, the murderer's family got on the news and asked for prayers for the coaches family, and said that Ed and Jan (coach and wife) will always be their brother and sister in Christ.

It's not often that you have a situation like this. The murderer's family and the coach's family even went to the same church every Sunday.


Very moving Zac. Thanks for sharing.