John Beam, the athletic director at Laney College and a legendary football coach in the Oakland area, has died a day after being shot on campus, the Oakland Police Department announced during a news conference Friday. He was 66.

Police responded to reports of gunshots on campus just before 11 p.m. Thursday and found Beam suffering from gunshot wounds. He was transported to an area hospital and was listed in critical condition. At approximately 10 a.m. Friday, Beam was pronounced dead.

A suspect, 27-year-old Oakland resident Cedric Irving Jr., was arrested by Oakland police early Friday morning at the San Leandro BART station. Irving is a former football player at Skyline High School where Beam once coached, but did not play under Beam, acting Oakland Police Chief James Beere said.

Irving and Beam knew each other, Beere said, but were not close. Irving isn’t a student at Laney but “was on campus for a specific reason,” said Beere, who did not reveal the reason but said it was not an attempted robbery.

“This was a very targeted incident,” Beere said.

A statement from Beam’s family was read at the press conference by Piedmont Police Chief Frederick Shavies, a former deputy chief in Oakland.

“We are devastated that John, being our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, coach, mentor and friend has passed,” the statement said. “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 respect] our family’s privacy.”

Beam coached football in Oakland — first at Skyline and then at Laney — for more than four decades before retiring from that job after last season. He and the Eagles were featured during the 2020 season of the Netflix documentary series “Last Chance U.” The show depicted Beam as a mentor and father figure to his players, some of whom were facing significant challenges in their lives, as they navigate a football season.

“John was so much more than a coach. He was a father figure to thousands of not only men but young women in our community,” Shavies said. “I know that I am not eloquent enough to put into words the indelible mark that Coach Beam has left on so many not just in the streets around the state and around the nation. I know that I speak for the thousands of players that have played for him for the last 40 plus years, the hundreds that held vigil last night at the hospital as he fought like he had taught all of us to do over the course of the last 40 plus years.”

According to the Laney website, Beam was 160-33-3 with four undefeated seasons at Skyline High. He came to Laney as running backs coach in 2004, was promoted to offensive coordinator in 2005 and became head coach in 2012. He coached the Eagles to the California Community College Athletic Assn. championship in 2018.

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee issued a statement Friday afternoon.

“Coach Beam’s legacy isn’t measured in championships or statistics,” Lee wrote. “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. …

“Coach Beam spent four decades lifting up Oakland and mentoring our young people. Now we must honor his memory by continuing the hard work of ridding our community of gun violence. We owe it to every family shattered by this gun violence crisis.”

Another shooting occurred on Wednesday at Skyline High. A student was shot and is said to be stable. Two suspects, both minors, have been arrested by Oakland police.