June 24, 2009 Man charged in fatal shooting of his former football coach Play video

(NECN: Parkersburg, Iowa) - A beloved high school football coach has been shot to death at the school where he coached for 34 years.

Ed Thomas was fatally shot this morning in the weight room at the school in Parkersburg, Iowa.

Authorities say about 50 students were in the school at the time, but no one else was hurt.

24-year-old Mark Becker, a former football player, was arrested a short time later, according to Kevin Winker, the Assistant Director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation.

Thomas died at a Waterloo hospital.

Thomas was the 2005 NFL high school football coach of the year, and four of his former players are in the NFL.

John Thompson, the Superintendent of Schools, says Ed Thomas was a "mentor."