Iowa Shooting Suspect Transferred

((HT: WHO-TV))

The man charged with the murder of Aplington-Parkersburg football coach Ed Thomas is being held in the Cerro Gordo County Jail on a $1 million bond. Twenty-four-year-old Mark Becker was transferred from the Butler County Jail Wednesday night. ((Members of the team are pictured from Wednesday's vigil, thanks Andrea Melendez/Des Moines Register))

Cerro Gordo County Sheriff Kevin Pals says Becker was transferred because Butler County's jail does not have a 24 hour guard and Becker is considered a high risk prisoner.

Becker is accused of shooting to death 58-year-old Ed Thomas while he supervised an early-morning weight lifting session at Aplington-Parkersburg High School. DCI officials say Becker entered the weight room around 7:45 a.m. Wednesday and shot Thomas multiple times with a handgun. There were around 20 student-athletes present during the shooting. None of them were harmed.

Thomas was taken to a Waterloo hospital where he died of his injuries.
Becker was arrested shortly after the shooting at his parents' home in rural Parkersburg. He cooperated with authorities.

The DCI has refused to speculate on Becker's motive for the shooting.
Becker was previously involved in an incident with Cedar Falls Police that began on June 20th. He was taken into custody after a high-speed chase when he tried to flee after allegedly vandalizing a Cedar Falls home. In the early morning hours of June 21st, Becker was transferred to a hospital by Butler County Sheriff's deputies for a psychiatric evaluation.

Butler County Sheriff Jason Johnson says he contacted the Central Point Coordinator of Mental Health and Developmental Disabilities on June 21st and disclosed details about Becker's involvement in the incident on June 20th. Sheriff Johnson asked the coordinator to notify him if Becker was going to be released from the hospital. That notification did not happen.

Covenant Medical Center says a request was not made to them by law enforcement, to be notified when Becker was released and he was released to a third party on June 23rd.

Mark Becker's next scheduled court appearance is set for July 2nd.
Jannay Towne has the follow-up from Parkersburg...
Thanks to our friends at WHO-TV one again...