Crime / shooting Coach Shot Dead at Iowa School; Ex-Player Arrested Adult gunman in custody By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff Posted Jun 24, 2009 12:30 PM CDT Copied Investigators work at the scene of a shooting at Aplington-Parkersburg High School in Parkersburg, Iowa, Wednesday, June 24, 2009. (AP Photo/Waterloo Courier, Matthew Putney) A top Iowa high school football coach is dead after he was shot by a former player in the school’s weight room—with students nearby today, the Gazette of Cedar Rapids reports. Ed Thomas was shot point-blank in the head; no one else was hurt. The suspect, 24-year-old Mark Becker, is in custody. With a 292-84 record over 37 seasons, Ed Thomas was NFL high school coach of the year in 2005; he coached four NFL players. (More shooting stories.) Report an error