Beloved Football Coach Dies After Being Shot On Bay Area College Campus: Police

OAKLAND, CA — Former Laney College football coach and current athletic director John Beam, 66, died Friday, a day after being shot on the Oakland campus, police said.

"We are devastated that John Beam, our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, coach, mentor and friend has passed. Our hearts are full from the outpouring of love and support from all who cared about him. We are deeply grateful for your continued prayers, well wishes and thoughts at this time. We kindly ask everyone to fully respect our family's privacy," Beam's family said in a statement.

Beam was shot in the head and had been listed in critical condition.

The Oakland Police Department said they have arrested a suspect, Cedric Irving Jr., 27, in Thursday's shooting. Oakland Police Assistant Chief James Beere said that Beam and Irving knew each other but weren't close. He confirmed this was not related to a robbery and described it as a targeted incident.

Beere said at a Friday press conference that police reviewed camera footage from Laney College, as well as nearby residences, businesses and bus videos to track the suspect’s movements through different neighborhoods.

At around 3:15 a.m. a sheriff’s deputy said he recognized Irving at the San Leandro BART station from the bus video footage, which led to his arrest, police said.

Investigators found the weapon used in the shooting and confirmed it matched the evidence from the scene, police said.

Irving, who was known to loiter around the campus, played football at Skyline High School but not when Beam was a coach there, police said.

Beere said Irving was not a student at Laney College, but was on campus for a specific reason at the time of the shooting that police would not disclose yet.

“The Peralta community is devastated by his shooting and deeply concerned for his well-being. We are stunned and heartbroken that such violence has touched our campus,” Mark Johnson, a spokesperson for Peralta Community College District, said in an emailed statement on Beam's medical status before his death was announced.

Beam was featured in season five of "Last Chance U" on Netflix. He became the school's athletic director in 2024.

The former coach was at Laney Fieldhouse when he was shot just before noon on Thursday, and the suspected shooter fled the scene wearing dark clothing, police said.

"The last two days have been incredibly heavy for our city. My thoughts are with Coach John Beam and his loved ones. We are praying for him," said Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee in a statement.

This was the second campus shooting in the Bay Area in 24 hours. On Wednesday at Skyline High School in Oakland, a student was hospitalized following a shooting in the bathroom.

Beam, who previously coached at Skyline before moving to Laney, has been coaching Bay Area football for over 40 years.

"Coach Beam is a giant in Oakland — a mentor, an educator, and a lifeline for thousands of young people," Lee said. "He has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family."

Beam's tenure at Laney College began in 2004 as a running backs coach. He was promoted to head coach in 2012, leading the team to two league titles. His biography on the college's website notes that he has coached 20 players who advanced to the NFL.

Beam's Laney College Eagles were the subject of a 2020 season of the Netflix docuseries, which focused on the lives of junior college athletes striving for a fresh start. Following the shooting, two of Beam's former players — brothers Nahshon and Rejzohn Wright, who are now in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints, respectively — posted messages on social media.

“You mean the world to me,” Rejzohn Wright said in a post with a photo of Beam.

A photo of the coach was shared by his brother, who accompanied it with a broken heart emoji.

Additional reporting contributed by AP News