Coach John Beam, the beloved California Bay Area football coach who was featured in the Netflix collection “Last Chance U,” has died after being shot this week on the campus of Laney College in Oakland, town’s police chief Floyd Mitchell mentioned at a information convention Friday.
Police recognized the suspect in Thursday’s shooting as 27-year-old Cedric Irving, mentioned Lt. Gloria Beltran, Oakland police murder unit commander, throughout the information convention.
The shooting occurred on the school’s fieldhouse, the place athletic coaching services are situated, in line with the Peralta Community College District, which incorporates Laney. Beam remained the varsity’s athletic director after retiring as the top football coach final 12 months.
The suspect was acquainted with Beam however didn’t have a detailed relationship with him, in line with Oakland Assistant Chief of Police James Beere.
“Coach Beam, although they did not have a close relationship, 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,” Beere mentioned.
The suspect performed football at Skyline High School in Oakland, however not whereas Beam was employed there, authorities mentioned. Although Irving was not a pupil at Laney College, he was typically seen loitering on campus, Beere added.
Beam was on campus for a particular goal, although officers didn’t specify what that was. While authorities described the encounter as a “targeted incident,” Beere confirmed it was not linked to a theft.
Irving was taken into custody with out incident, and investigators recovered a firearm in his possession, Beere mentioned.
“The Peralta community is devastated by his shooting,” mentioned Chancellor Tammeil Gilkerson in a message to staff. “We are stunned and heartbroken that such violence has touched our campus and one of the most respected and beloved members of our Laney, Peralta, and Oakland community.”
Beam was admitted to Highland Hospital in Oakland in vital situation on Thursday after the shooting, Gilkerson mentioned.
Beam starred in the 2020 season of the Netflix documentary collection “Last Chance U,” a docuseries focusing on group school athletes striving to show their lives round.
He was revered in the Bay Area after teaching for greater than 4 many years at each the junior school and highschool ranges.
Officers examine after a shooting at Laney College in Oakland, California, on Thursday. – Santiago Mejia/San Francisco Chronicle/Getty Images
Laney College was placed on lockdown after experiences of a shooting, as police secured the world and launched an investigation. The campus was reopened Friday with psychological well being and counseling providers obtainable, the faculty mentioned.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee condemned the killing, saying gun violence has “stolen” one other life and warning that town can’t enable firearms to proceed flooding its streets and destroying the very individuals “who are trying to save our community.”
“Coach’s Beam’s legacy isn’t measured in championships or statistics,” Lee mentioned in an announcement Friday. “It’s measured in the thousands of young people he believed in, mentored, and refused to abandon, including my nephew, while at Skyline High school. He gave Oakland’s youth their best chance, and he never stopped fighting for them.”
Gilkerson described Beam as “a renowned coach, teacher, mentor, and leader whose impact extends far beyond athletics.”
“Our thoughts are with him and his family,” Gilkerson mentioned.
Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee known as Beam “a giant” in town and “a lifeline for thousands of young people” in a statement on X.
“For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family,” she added.
The incident is Oakland’s second faculty shooting in two days.
On Wednesday, one juvenile was shot and two had been arrested at Skyline High School, police said. The juvenile who was shot was taken to the hospital and was in steady situation.
“It is devastating,” Lee added. “Schools should be the safest spaces in our city. We need guns off our streets now.”
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