OAKLAND, California (BN24)— Legendary Laney College football coach John Beam died Friday morning after being shot on campus Thursday, the Oakland Police Department said. Authorities announced the arrest of a suspect early Friday.
Beam, who gained national attention on Netflix’s “Last Chance U,” had coached football in the Bay Area for more than 40 years. He stepped down from coaching last year to serve exclusively as Laney College’s athletic director.
The 27-year-old suspect, Cedric Irving, was taken into custody at 3:15 a.m. Friday, after being spotted at a Bay Area Rapid Transit station, police said. Irving matched the description of the person seen fleeing the scene after the shooting at Laney Fieldhouse shortly before noon Thursday. A gun recovered from Irving matched the caliber of casings and rounds collected at the crime scene.
Police said Irving knew Beam but did not have a personal relationship with him. Irving did not attend Laney College nor work there, but went to campus “for a specific reason” and had been known to loiter in the area. Authorities said Irving was not previously known to Oakland police and did not disclose a possible motive.
Beam was hospitalized in critical condition after the shooting and died around 10 a.m. Friday, according to Gloria Beltran of the Oakland Police Department.
Community leaders and colleagues remembered Beam as a mentor and role model. Piedmont Police Chief Frederick Shavies called Beam an “absolutely incredible human being” and said, “Our hearts are aching.”
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said Beam’s impact went beyond the football field. “Coach John Beam was a giant in Oakland and mentored thousands,” she said at a news conference Friday. “He gave Oakland’s youth their best chance. Coach Beam’s legacy isn’t measured in championships or statistics … it’s measured in the thousands of young people he believed in, mentored and refused to abandon, including my nephew.”
Beam’s death has sent shockwaves through the Bay Area football community and the many students whose lives he touched over decades of coaching and mentorship.
