Oakland police make arrest in ‘targeted’ killing of Laney Coach John Beam

Oakland police arrested a suspect Friday morning in the “targeted” killing of Laney College athletic director and longtime Oakland football coach John Beam, who was shot on campus Thursday and died at Highland Hospital early Friday.

At a news conference Friday, Assistant Police Chief Jim Beere said Alameda County sheriff’s deputies took Cedric Irving Jr., 27, into custody without incident around 3:15 a.m. at the San Leandro BART station. He is awaiting charges. 

Beere said Irving knew Beam but that they did not have a close relationship. Beere would not disclose how the men knew each other, saying only, “Coach Beam was open to helping everybody in our community. And this is not uncommon for him to have a relationship with someone that he would think needs help.”

While Irving is not a Laney student or employee, Beere said he has been known to loiter on campus. He said Irving was on campus for a “specific reason” but he did not reveal what the reason was. Irving played football at Skyline, Beere said, but not when Beam was the coach. 

Beere called the shooting a “targeted incident.”

Police relied on surveillance camera footage from the college, businesses, homes and buses to track Irving down. He said police recovered a gun on Irving that was the same caliber as the shell casings and live rounds found at the crime scene.

Beam, 66, was shot shortly before noon and died about 13 hours later. He had coached Skyline High School to 15 championships before taking the football coaching job at Laney College in 2004. 

“I know that Coach Beam meant a lot to the Oakland community and beyond,” Police Chief Floyd Mitchell said at the news conference. 

Police read a statement from Beam’s family, which said they were “devastated” but grateful for the police and community support.

“Our hearts are full from the outpouring of love and support from all who cared about him. We are deeply grateful for your continued prayers, well wishes and thoughts. At this time, we kindly ask everyone to fully respect our family’s privacy,” the statement said. 

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee said in a statement that she was praying for Beam and his loved ones. She pointed out that the shooting was the second this week at an Oakland school. 

On Wednesday, a 15-year-old boy was wounded, and two people were arrested, following a shooting at Skyline High School.

”The last two days have been incredibly heavy for our city,” Lee said. “This is the second shooting on an Oakland campus in two days, and it is devastating. Schools should be the safest spaces in our city. We need guns off our streets now.” 

Tammeil Gilkerson, the chancellor of the Peralta Community College District of which Laney is a part, said in a statement that Beam impacted the lives of generations of Oakland families.

“I struggle to comprehend the tragic loss of someone with so much bravado, enthusiasm, and tenacity for life,” she said. “John’s vibrancy could be felt in every space he entered, proudly wearing his passion for students, Laney College, and Oakland.”

A decorated coach who won two league titles with Laney, Beam started coaching there in 2004 and became a head coach in 2012. He retired as coach last year but continued as the school’s athletic director, according to the college’s website.

He caught national attention in 2020 when his football program was featured on the Netflix series “Last Chance U.”

(Top Photo: John Beam in Laney College screenshot)

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