Coach John Beam, a long-time football mentor in Oakland and the former head coach at Laney College, was fatally shot on Thursday, November 13, on the campus where he served as athletic director. He died the next day at age 66. The incident occurred at the Laney field house, and authorities swiftly identified the case as a targeted attack.
Police arrested 27-year-old Cedric Irving Jr. in connection with the shooting, taking him into custody early Friday at a commuter rail station. Surveillance footage and other evidence helped track him down. While the suspect and Coach Beam were acquainted, police described them as not being close and offered no further motive.
Beam’s legacy looms large in the Oakland community: he coached at Skyline High School, later at Laney, and was featured in the Netflix docuseries Last Chance U for his work with athletes seeking second chances. Many of his former players went on to the NFL, and he was widely praised as a mentor and father-figure. His death has provoked widespread mourning and raised concerns about campus safety and gun violence.
The shooting comes amid heightened anxiety about violence on school and college campuses—in fact, Beam’s killing followed another shooting at an Oakland school just a day earlier. Community leaders, including Oakland’s mayor, used the tragedy to renew calls for action on armed security, campus policing, and preventing further loss of lives in educational settings.
