Legendary local football coach and Laney College athletic director John Beam died from his gunshot wounds Friday morning, after being shot Thursday at Laney College, tragically ending his 43 years as an Oakland sports father figure.

The whole Bay Area was shocked by Thursday’s news that former Laney College football coach and current athletic director John Beam was shot on campus. At around 3 am Friday morning, police arrested 27-year-old Cedric Irving Jr for the shooting. The Chronicle reported that Irving "allegedly told police that he knew Beam and confessed to the shooting," while Beam himself remained in critical condition.


But the Chronicle reports that John Beam was pronounced dead at about 10 am Friday morning. He was 66.

Murder charges are likely soon to come.

The Bay Area News Group details how Beam had served as an inspiration to generations of Oakland-area athletes, from his 22 years coaching football at Oakland's Skyline High School where the team had four undefeated seasons, and won 15 league championships (Beam’s overall record at Skyline was 160-33-3). He moved on to Laney College in 2004, and in 2018 guided them to a community college national championship.

He coached future NFL Pro Bowlers like running back C.J. Anderson, who transferred from Laney College to Cal, and Skyline High grad Marvel Smith. John Beam was also featured on the 2020 season of the Netflix docuseries Last Chance U, which documented community college students with troubled backgrounds trying to redeem their reputations to move up to Division 1 schools.


Per the Chronicle, acting Oakland Police Chief James Beere said at a Friday press conference that the alleged shooter Irving “was on campus for a specific reason. This wasn’t related to a robbery — this was a very targeted incident.” Beere added that Irving had “played football at Skyline High School but not for coach Beam,” and that “To the best of our knowledge, [Irving] was never a Laney student and did not work there.”


At that press conference, Beere also noted that when arrested, Irving had a firearm whose shell casings matched those found at the scene of Beam’s killing.

In an added tragic irony, Beam was shot during a session when Skyline High School students were visiting Laney College. Those very same students had just endured a shooting at Skyline High the very day before.


The Chronicle’s report added a statement from Beam’s family saying that they were “devastated that John Beam — our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, and uncle — has been taken from us far too soon. John dedicated his life to uplifting others through education, mentorship, and the game he loved. His loss leaves a hole in our family and in the Oakland community he served so passionately.”

Related: Arrest Made In Shooting of Famed Laney College Football Coach John Beam [SFist]

Image via Netflix