The 27-year-old man suspected of fatally shooting beloved Northern California football coach John Beam confessed to the killing shortly after his arrest late last week, according to multiple media reports.
The fatal shooting occurred just before noon on Nov. 13 on the campus of Laney College in Oakland where Beam had worked for the school’s football program in one capacity or another since 2004.
For reasons that are not yet clear, Cedric Irving Jr. allegedly shot Beam in the head, an action that Oakland Police Department officials called “targeted,” KTLA’s sister-station KRON reported.
Officers responded to the campus and found Beam suffering from gunshot wounds.
Paramedics with the Oakland Fire Department rushed the 66-year-old to the hospital where he succumbed to his injuries the following day at 10 a.m.
Irving was located and arrested that same morning at the San Leandro BART station.
A firearm matching the caliber of the gun used to kill Beam was found in the 27-year-old’s possession during the arrest. While investigators interviewed the man, Irving admitted that the gun belonged to him and that he used it to shoot Beam, KRON reported.
On Monday, authorities with the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office announced that he had been charged with murder, along with 10 additional felonies related to the alleged murder.
This photo provided by Peralta Community College District shows Laney College Athletic Director John Beam after Laney won the California state football championship in 2018. (Peralta Community College District via AP)
Cedric Irving Jr., 27. (Alameda County Sheriff’s Office)
Jayne Moser leaves a candle at a sidewalk memorial for football coach John Beam at Laney College in Oakland, Calif., Monday, Nov. 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)
A Bay Area coaching legend, Beam was head coach of the Laney College football program from 2012 to 2024. After his retirement, he stayed on as Laney’s athletic director, a position he’d held since 2006.
An influential and beloved father figure and mentor to many who knew him and played for him, he gained national prominence in Season 5 of the Netflix documentary series “Last Chance U,” which was centered around Beam and Laney College the Los Angeles Times reported.
Chicago Bears cornerback Nashon Wright played junior college football under Beam in 2018.
“He was watching over me,” Wright said Sunday after the Bears’ 19-17 win over the Vikings. “It’s crazy. He called me the night before he passed and he told me that every game he watched, I just seemed to get a pick. So, I just know he was behind me today.”
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Little is known about Beam’s alleged killer, who was arrested Nov. 14, his 27th birthday.
While in school, Irving played football at Skyline High School where Beam had previously coached, but he’d never played under Beam. Police said that Beam and the 27-year-old were known to each other, but that the nature of the pair’s relationship is not clear, KRON reported.
He is currently being held without bail at Santa Rita Jail and is expected to appear in court tomorrow.
If convicted as charged, the 27-year-old could face 50 years to life in state prison, prosecutors said.
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