Legendary former soccer coach John Beam died on Friday morning after he was shot on the Laney College campus in Oakland, California, on Thursday, the Oakland Police Division stated, as authorities introduced a suspect’s arrest.
Beam, featured in Netflix’s “Final Probability U,” is a soccer legend within the Bay Space and had coached the game for over 40 years earlier than changing into solely the varsity’s athletic director final yr.
Beam was on the Laney Fieldhouse when he was shot shortly earlier than midday on Thursday, authorities stated. The alleged shooter fled the scene.
Director of Athletics at Laney Faculty John Beam.
Laney Faculty
Police combed by surveillance footage, and at 3:15 a.m. Friday, an individual matching the suspect’s description was noticed at a Bay Space Speedy Transit station and was taken into custody, Oakland police stated.
Police didn’t focus on a attainable motive.
The suspect — 27-year-old Cedric Irving — did know the coach, however “they didn’t have a relationship,” police stated. Irving performed highschool soccer within the Bay Space, however by no means performed for Beam.
Irving did not attend Laney Faculty or work on the school, however he went to campus “for a selected cause” and “has been recognized to loiter on or across the campus,” police stated.
Authorities reply to a taking pictures at Laney Faculty in Oakland, California, Nov. 13, 2025.
KGO
Oakland police stated Irving was not recognized to the division.
A gun recovered from the suspect is identical caliber because the casings and rounds recovered on the crime scene, police added.
Beam, who was hospitalized in essential situation, died at about 10 a.m. Friday, Gloria Beltran of the Oakland police stated.
Director of Athletics at Laney Faculty John Beam.
Laney Faculty
Piedmont Police Chief Frederick Shavies known as the coach an “completely unbelievable human being.”
“Our hearts are aching,” Shavies stated.
“Coach John Beam was a large in Oakland and mentored 1000’s,” Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee stated at a information convention on Friday.
“He gave Oakland’s youth their finest likelihood,” Lee stated.
“Coach Beam’s legacy is not measured in championships or statistics … it is measured within the 1000’s of younger individuals he believed in, mentored and refused to desert, together with my nephew,” Lee stated.
