**************UPDATED**********Thomas shot, killed inside school
ESPN.com news services
Updated: June 24, 2009, 11:19 AM ET
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DES MOINES, Iowa -- Ed Thomas, who has produced four NFL linemen as the football coach at tiny Aplington-Parkersburg High School,
was shot and killed Wednesday inside the school's weight room.
Ed Thomas
Ross Dettman for ESPN.com
Ed Thomas, pictured in 2008 beside the football field at Aplington-Parkersburg High, was shot and killed Wednesday at the school.
The family of Thomas said in a statement Wednesday morning that he died shortly after arriving at a Waterloo hospital.
A gunman opened fire on Thomas in the school weight room at about 8 a.m. Authorities said he was captured shortly thereafter, and is being held at the Butler County jail.
No one else was injured in the attack.
Butler County spokeswoman Holly Fokkena said about 50 students were in the school when the shooting occurred.
Thomas, also the athletics director at Aplington-Parkersburg High, was running a program during the summer for students, not just members of the team. Parkersburg is about 80 miles northeast of Des Moines.
Aplington-Parkersburg is the alma mater of four current NFL players -- Casey Wiegmann of the Kansas City Chiefs, Jared DeVries of the Detroit Lions, Brad Meester of the Jacksonville Jaguars and Aaron Kampman of the Green Bay Packers. All played for Thomas.
Thomas had been coach for nearly three decades, amassing nearly 300 victories and several state championships.
Information from The Associated Press was used in this report.
