Hundreds of people showed up to pay their respects to a slain Iowa high school football coach. The line extended nearly six city blocks. Mourners waited nearly three-and-a-half hours on Sunday to attend the visitation for Aplington-Parkersburg High School football coach Ed Thomas, who was shot to death last week.
Authorities have charged one of Thomas’ former players, 24-year-old Mark Becker, with first-degree murder in the fatal shooting, which occurred Wednesday in the school’s weight room.
Among the mourners who paid their respects at the visitation were Iowa Senator Charles Grassley and many of Thomas’ rival coaches. The funeral for Thomas takes place at 10:30 this morning at First Congregational Church in Parkersburg.