Legendary Iowa High School Football Coach is Shot, Killed
1-liner, Death, High School Sports, Sad. June 24th. 2009, 12:45pm
Football Coach Killed [UPDATE]: Terrible news from the heartland – legendary Iowa high school football coach Ed Thomas, who was profiled one year ago by ESPN for his great work in a community decimated by a tornado, was shot and killed this morning. According to the Des Moines Register and a variety of other outlets, Thomas was shot in the head from point-blank range in the school’s weight room. An arrest has been made. [Edit: The shooter, seen here, is Mark Becker, a 24-year-old former student at the school and a former football player.]
26 Responses to “Legendary Iowa High School Football Coach is Shot, Killed”
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June 24th, 2009 at 12:47 pm
Damn…I wonder what the reason was? Anyone know how old the shooter is?
June 24th, 2009 at 12:48 pm
I can confirm this now. Press conference scheduled for noon here in Iowa. Several sites should have the feeds.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
Shooter was reportedly a young male in his 20s. He has not been identified yet, but my guess is that he will be soon enough at this press conference.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
wtf man? Gah.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:51 pm
Shooter wasn’t a student. Gotta wonder who then.
Sad, sad news. I recall this guy coming to games when I was at UI. Never met him or heard him speak but heard nothing but good things.
Condolences Hawkeye state.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:52 pm
one tv report (according to an emailer) said the person pointed a gun at a student and then shot the coach
various comments sections say the shooter was 22 and a former player. no idea if that’s true
June 24th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
AJC just desribed the shooter as an adult male. Not a lot of details coming out thus far. I can’t imagine being in the weight room and seeing that.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:54 pm
Here’s another good story on Ed.
He went to the Super Bowl in Detroit the year after winning that coach of the year award.
June 24th, 2009 at 12:59 pm
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/99999999/NEWS/90531005/AR&template=mogulus
Live link if anyone is interested.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:07 pm
I remember that tornado story on him and having to watch it while drying my eyes. This is terrible.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hw0gxtNzV6w&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo%2Egoogle%2Ecom%2Fvideosearch%3Fsourceid%3Dnavclient%26rlz%3D1T4GFRG%5Fen%26q%3DEd%2520Thomas%2520tornado%26um%3D1%26ie%3DUTF%2D8%26sa%3DN%26hl%3Den%26tab%3Dwv&feature=player_embedded
June 24th, 2009 at 1:09 pm
Mark Becker, age 24.
That’s your shooter.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
Piece of shit
June 24th, 2009 at 1:10 pm
ugh. fuckin’ crazy people and guns, man. bad news.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:13 pm
Former player according to the conference
June 24th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Cant wait to hear his Motive.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:24 pm
Looks like he had a lot of traffic citations.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:25 pm
They should kill that piece of shit and be done with it.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:26 pm
I’m not sure if that’s the Becker I’m looking at though. I might have to go down to Parkersburg.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:30 pm
@Romo – He was involved in a high speed chase in Cedar Falls according the the Parkersburg Sheriff’s office. It’s the same one. They asked about him during the conference.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:32 pm
I wonder if he was there to kill the coach, or if the coach took the bullet for one of his students
June 24th, 2009 at 1:37 pm
I figured, but I wasn’t too sure.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:39 pm
It sounds like it was more to kill the coach than anything else. The DCI said that Thomas was shot multiple times. I believe in the head.
June 24th, 2009 at 1:40 pm
That’s horrible
June 24th, 2009 at 1:58 pm
The guy looks like what Tim Riggins would look like 6 years out of high school.
June 24th, 2009 at 2:51 pm
that dude looks like the fat monarch henchman on venture bros
June 24th, 2009 at 2:53 pm
seems as thought this shooter was a headcase waiting to snap.
you don’t often read about this shit coming from rural areas like this. wow.