US coach killed in gym shooting

The school shooting took place early on Wednesday morning

A high school sports coach who was shot in his school gym in the US state of Iowa has died of his wounds.

Ed Thomas was airlifted to hospital and died following the attack in Parkersburg, 80 miles (129km) north-east of Des Moines, his family said.

He worked at Aplington-Parkersburg High School and had coached several prominent football players, the Associated Press news agency reported.

Police have charged a 24-year-old male over the incident, say reports.

The gunman was reported to have opened fire on Mr Thomas at about 0800 local time (1300 GMT) in the school's weights room.

No-one else was injured.

Authorities did not confirm whether the gunman was a student.

About 50 students were in the building at the time of the shooting, including some in the weights room, a spokeswoman for the local Butler County said.

"No kids were hurt, we're thankful for that," District Superintendent Jon Thompson told local radio.

"They did witness this and so we have counsellors at the site to talk with the kids."

Mr Thomas was named NFL high school football coach of the year in 2005 and four of his former players are now in NFL teams, AP reported.