Legendary college football coach John Beam, who starred in the Netflix series “Last Chance U,” has died after being shot on a campus in Oakland, California.
The Laney College athletic director and Skyline High School coach, 66, died Friday following the shocking attack, which police described as a “very targeted incident.”
Cedric Irving has been arrested over Beam’s death. The 27-year-old knew the coach but “did not have a relationship” with him, Oakland Police assistant chief James Beere said at a press conference.
Irving played high school football at Skyline High, but not under Beam. They weren’t close but the coach was “open to helping everybody in our community,” Beere said.
Though he also did not attend Laney College the suspect had gone there “for a specific reason” and had been known to “loiter on or around the campus,” according to Beere.
He added that Irving was not known to the department prior to the shooting. Charges are still pending.
The incident took place Thursday inside the Oakland campus field house. Beam, who was hospitalized in critical condition, died at about 10 a.m. Friday, police confirmed.
Beam’s family said in a statement that he was a “loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, coach, mentor and friend,” but asked for privacy. “Our hearts are full from the outpouring of love,” the statement added.
A gun recovered from the suspect is the same caliber as the casings and rounds recovered at the crime scene, police added. Authorities later credited technology, specifically cameras at the college campus, private residences and on public transit, with helping arrest Irving.
Beam served as athletic director at Laney College and joined the school in 2004 as a running backs coach. He became head coach in 2012, winning two league titles. According to his biography on the college’s website, 20 of his players have gone on to the NFL.
Two of Beam’s former players — brothers Nahshon and Rejzohn Wright, now in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints — posted on social media after the shooting.
“You mean the world to me,” Rejzohn Wright said in a post with a photo of Beam. His brother shared a photo of the coach alongside a broken heart emoji.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee described Beam as a “giant” and a mentor, educator and lifeline for young people. “For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family,” Lee said Friday.
The Netflix docuseries focused on athletes at junior colleges striving to turn their lives around, and Beam’s Laney College Eagles starred in the 2020 season.
