PARKERSBURG, Iowa – An Iowa high school coach who helped launch several professional football careers was gunned down in front of students Wednesday by a former player who was to have been taken to a psychiatric ward days earlier, authorities said.

Mark Becker is accused of unloading several rounds into Aplington-Parkersburg High School football coach Ed Thomas and was arrested in the driveway of his parents' home soon afterward, said Kevin Winker, assistant director of the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation. Winker wouldn't discuss what Becker's motive might have been.

School was not in session, and Becker did not threaten any of the students who were in the weight room at the time participating in an off-season workout. Thomas, 58, died at a Waterloo hospital. His shooting stunned the rural community of 1,800 residents 80 miles northeast of Des Moines.

Named the NFL's 2005 high school coach of the year, Thomas amassed a 292-84 record and two state titles in 37 seasons as a head coach – 34 of them at Aplington-Parkersburg. He coached several players who went on to the NFL, including Green Bay Packers linebacker Aaron Kampman, Jacksonville Jaguars center Brad Meester, Detroit Lions defensive end Jared DeVries, and Denver Broncos center Casey Wiegmann.

Becker, 24, is charged with first-degree murder and was being held in Butler County jail. Cedar Falls Police Chief Jeff Olson said Butler County deputies had arrested Becker on Saturday after a high-speed chase through two counties. Deputies agreed to take him to a hospital psychiatric ward and request that Cedar Falls police be notified when he could be released. Cedar Falls police didn't hear anything more.

"I don't know what happened," Olson said. "I don't know why we didn't hear back."