ed thomas

ed thomas
Ed Thomas, the long-time Aplington-Parkersburg football coach, died this morning from injuries he sustained after being shot.

Thomas died shortly after arriving at Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, a hospital spokeswoman said.

School business manager Pat Gosch told the Cedar Rapids Gazette that Thomas was shot in the head at point-blank range.

Holly Fokkena, Butler County information officer, said about 50 students were present at the school when the shooting happened sometime between 8 and 8:30 a.m. No students were injured, she said.

A football player said the shooting happened in the school's weight room. Players were there working out in preparation for this fall's season.

According to authorities contacted by the Associated Press, the gunman was captured shortly after the shooting, and is being held at the Butler County jail.

No further information on the suspect was available.

Thomas was taken by helicopter to Covenant Medical Center in Waterloo, where he died, Andrea Barker, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Thomas has been the school's coach for nearly three decades. He has nearly 300 career victories, and four of his former players have played in the NFL.

His home was destroyed by last summer's tornado that devastated Parkersburg. He has helped lead the town back, including the Herculean effort to rebuild the ruined football field in time for the start of the 2008 season. The football field is named for him.

Outrage over the shooting reached halfway across the country this morning.

"Why would anyone want to do something like this?" said former Iowa defensive coordinator Bob Elliott, who works in the athletic department at San Diego State. "He's the best. He's the best of the best."

Elliott knew Thomas through recruiting of former Parkersburg stars Casey Wiegmann, Jared DeVries and Aaron Kampman.

"I talked to Ed after the tornado, and he was clearly devastated," Elliott said. "He was walking around the football field, cleaning up debris when I talked to him. He didn't have a cell phone, so the school gave him one because they knew everybody in the country would be trying to get in touch with him.

"That's how well-liked Ed was. That community has turned out a lot of NFL guys, but it was Ed Thomas who was the face of the community."

Get updates on this story throughout the day here and on our mobile site.

More about the team: The Register followed the Aplington-Parkersburg football team as they returned to the field for the first time after the town's massive tornado. In a video, Coach Ed Thomas and former A-P players fired up the team before the big game.

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Iowa Gov. Chet Culver, himself a former high school football coach, called the shooting "just awful" during a train stop in Earlham where he was promoting passenger railroad service.

Culver said he knows Thomas well, not only as a coach but as a community leader in the wake of last year's devastating tornado.

"I've been a real fan of his, as an old coach myself," said Culver, who taught and coached at Hoover High School in Des Moines before becoming Iowa secretary of state in 1998.

"He epitomizes what it means to be a high school football coach. He's just a legend in terms of an incredibly powerful role model for generations of kids in the Parkersburg area. He's made our state proud with his commitment to the kids and high school football."

Culver, whose comments were made before he knew Thomas had died, continued:

"He was incredibly instrumental in bringing Parkersburg back, rebuilding the field and stadium and high school."

Rick Wulkow, executive director of the Iowa High School Athletic Association, said in a statement: "Like all tragedies, the taking of Coach Thomas’ life is senseless. At this time our thoughts and prayers are with his family and the Aplington-Parkersburg community and the thousands of lives he so positively impacted. He embodied the essence of what a coach should be, and that legacy will endure."