Bad: Football coach dies after shooting at Iowa high school

[JonInNY]

Football coach dies after shooting at Iowa high school - CNN.com

(CNN) -- An Iowa high school football coach died Wednesday after he was shot inside the school as athletes were lifting weights, the district superintendent told CNN.

Ed Thomas had been with the school district for more than 30 years and was well-known in the region.

Ed Thomas died shortly after he arrived at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, Iowa, according to a hospital statement.

He was flown to a hospital after he was shot about 8:30 a.m.at Aplington-Parkersburg High School, said Holly Fokkena, Butler County auditor.

No students were injured, although about 50 students were present at the time of the shooting, she said.

One person, an adult, was taken into custody, Fokkena said.

Superintendent Jon Thompson of the Aplington-Parkersburg Community Schools said crisis counselors were on scene to assist students who witnessed the shooting.

Thompson declined to provide more details on the shooting, saying they were not clear.

Thomas had been with the school district for more than 30 years, Thompson said, and was a well-known football coach in the region.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[grady]

Another faulty no-gun zone, where law-abiding citizens are at the mercy of law breakers.

[falcon1]

I will be very interested to hear what the motive was for the murder.

Prayers sent for the coach's family, friends, and students.

[Saber]

I don't get it. Was this another case of an angry parent that had something to do with his son's treatment on the team?
Regards,

[tinkerinWstuff]

I know what you are all thinking; how can this happen? I'm sure Iowa schools are gun free zones.

Sounds like in this case the shooter must have been targeting this one individual. The 50 students lifting weights should have given that guy a beatdown.

[EW3]

Sigh. More ammo for the Antis.

[shooterX]

Great yet another gun-free zone shooting that will be canon fodder for the anti's.

[retsupt99]

I don't get it. Was this another case of an angry parent that had something to do with his son's treatment on the team?
Regards,

I'd say that you're right on the money...parents can get pretty goofy over their 'little darlings'.

[falcon1]

I'm thinking less fodder than it once was. Many voters are seeing past that faulty line of reasoning these days. I could be wrong, of course.

[grady]

I think shootings like this expose the fallacy of gun-free zones.

[lance22]

If you are a sport coach in high school I think you are in a scary position. When some overzealous dad comes in and tells you that his kid should be the starting QB or he wants to start calling plays from the sideline or advising you on your lineup - it would be easy to tell him to shut up and leave the coaching to the coach. But it's a crazy world and people take sports WAY too seriously.

My sympathies to the family of the victim. May the perp rot in Hell.

[Fisherman]

Superintendent Jon Thompson of the Aplington-Parkersburg Community Schools said crisis counselors were on scene to assist students who witnessed the shooting.

Crisis counselors. Right. These are the people who will tell the kid that guns are bad. "See how bad guns are? That gun walked in here and killed that man. You should never own one. There there... we're here to help."

[TucAzRider]

Gotta love the Crime-Free zones.. Totally sad,.. Prayers for the family for sure..

[tinkerinWstuff]

More from MSN:

Coach fatally shot at Iowa high school - Crime & courts- msnbc.com

Coach fatally shot at Iowa high school
Alleged shooter taken into custody; no one else hurt

NBC News and news services
updated 14 minutes ago
DES MOINES, Iowa - A gunman shot and killed a prominent Iowa high school football coach in the school's weight room early Wednesday and was taken into custody shortly afterward, authorities said.

The gunman shot Aplington-Parkersburg High School coach Ed Thomas at about 8 a.m. with about 50 students in the school, including several in the weight room at the time. School was not in session, and no one else was injured.

Thomas, the 2005 NFL high school football coach of the year, was airlifted to a Waterloo hospital and died, his family said in a statement.

The suspect, described by the sheriff's office as an adult male, was being held in Butler County Jail. He is not believed to be a student, said Sue Muller, the Aplington-Parkersburg High School district's board secretary.

The district's superintendent and a guidance counselor were meeting with students who were in the weight room at the time of the shooting.

"No kids were hurt, we're thankful for that," Superintendent Jon Thompson told KOEL radio. "They did witness this and so we have counselors at the site to talk with the kids."

The school is in Parkersburg, about 80 miles northeast of Des Moines.

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.

DeVries, a defensive end with the Lions, walked off the practice field in Allen Park, Mich., toward the end of its morning practice, apparently shaken.

Team officials said DeVries was not immediately available for comment.

Thomas made national headlines last year when he insisted that the high school's football field, named in his honor, be rebuilt as a way to help restore community pride in Parkersburg after it was hit by a powerful tornado in May 2008 that killed six people and destroyed the high school.

[llred]

someone should have taken a 45lb. plate to this dudes face.