OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) — Celebrated former football coach John Beam, who was featured in the Netflix series “Last Chance U” that showcased the connections he made with players others wouldn’t gamble on, has died after being shot on the college campus where he worked, the Oakland Police Department said Friday.
The suspect, who police say knew and targeted Beam, 66, has been arrested.
Beam’s death a day after he was shot at Laney College rattled the community with scores holding a vigil outside the hospital before he died and remembering him as someone who always tried to help anyone.
Oakland Assistant Chief James Beere said the suspect went on campus for a “specific reason” but did not elaborate on what that was. “This was a very targeted incident,” he said.
Beere did not say how Beam and the suspect knew each other but said the suspect was known to loiter around the Laney campus. The suspect had played football at a high school where Beam had worked but not at the time the coach was employed there.
The suspect was taken into custody without any altercation and a gun has been recovered, the assistant chief added. Charges were still pending.
Authorities credited technology, specifically cameras at the college campus, private residences and on public transit, with helping arrest the suspect, who was not named.
Police said the shooting happened Thursday before noon, and officers arrived to find Beam shot. Few other details were available. It was the second shooting in two days at a school in Oakland.
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. Beam gambled on players nobody else wanted. He developed deep relationships with his players while fielding a team that regularly competed for championships.
Beam’s family said in a statement that he was a “loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, coach, mentor and friend.”
“Our hearts are full from the outpouring of love,” the family said, requesting privacy.
Piedmont Police Chief Fred Shavies, who previously served as a deputy chief in the Oakland Police Department said he was a friend, mentee and long time admirer of Beam.
“John was so much more than a coach,” he said. “He was a father figure to thousands of not only men but young women in our community.”
Shavies said he met Beam when he was in the eighth grade and he supported him after Shavies lost his father in high school, calling him “an absolutely incredible human being.” He asked how did Beam leave his mark on so many people “with just 24 hours in a day, right?”
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.
Mayor Barbara Lee described Beam as a “giant” in the city who mentored thousands of young people, including her own nephew, and “gave Oakland’s youth their best chance” at success.
“For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family,” Lee said.
Beam, who was serving as athletic director, joined Laney College in 2004 as a running backs coach and became head coach in 2012, winning two league titles. He retired from coaching in 2024 but stayed on at the school to shape its athletic programs. According to his biography on the college’s website, at least 20 of his players have gone on to the NFL.
Beam’s shooting came a day after a student was shot at Oakland’s Skyline High School. The student is in stable condition. Beam had previously worked at Skyline High School, and the suspect had played football there after Beam had already left for another job.
Lee said the back-to-back shootings on Oakland campuses demonstrate “the gun violence crisis playing out in real time.” She gave no indication that they were connected.
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