{"id":53689,"date":"2025-11-15T00:08:28","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T00:08:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/53689\/"},"modified":"2025-11-15T00:08:28","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T00:08:28","slug":"coach-john-beam-beloved-staple-of-oakland-sports-dies-from-gunshot-wound","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/53689\/","title":{"rendered":"Coach John Beam, beloved staple of Oakland sports, dies from gunshot wound"},"content":{"rendered":"

OAKLAND \u2014 John Beam, the legendary football coach<\/a> who shaped multiple generations of student athletes, anchoring Oakland\u2019s sports community and becoming a respected leader at Laney College, has died from a gunshot wound in a shooting at the school\u2019s campus<\/a>, police said Friday. He was 66.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are devastated that John Beam, our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, coach mentor and friend has passed,\u201d his family said in a statement. \u201cOur hearts are full from the outpouring of support \u2026 We are deeply grateful for your continued prayers well wishes and thoughts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beam was pronounced dead at 10 a.m. Friday, police said. He had been hospitalized since the day before, after a gunman entered a campus facility and shot the college\u2019s longtime athletics director in the head, according to sources with direct knowledge of the incident.<\/p>\n

A suspect arrested early Friday morning was identified by sources<\/a> as Cedric Irving Jr., a 27-year-old Oakland resident.<\/p>\n

It was a shocking loss for athletes, coaches and Oakland residents who had come to rely on the wisdom and dedication of a man known around town simply as Coach Beam.<\/p>\n

His gruff demeanor, bushy mustache and deadpan honesty made Beam a recognizable character in Oakland\u2019s rich tapestry of sports figures. And those who knew Beam closely remembered most his personal efforts to help generations of young athletes onto a better life path.<\/p>\n

Beam coached Skyline High School\u2019s football team for 22 years, winning numerous league championships before leaving in 2004 to helm the program at Laney.<\/p>\n

\u201cFootball is about family,\u201d he said in an early scene in the Netflix series Last Chance U, which documented the Laney Eagles\u2019 2019 season, following their victory in the California Community College Athletic Association championship a year prior.<\/p>\n

He retired from coaching last year to focus on his role as athletics director, saying in an interview at the time, \u201cIt\u2019s been a good run, brother.\u201d<\/p>\n

Beam spoke up about issues at Laney, calling on the community to invest in the college\u2019s future. He was quick to vent his frustrations but ended most conversations with a touch of dry wit.<\/p>\n

Fans of Last Chance U quickly took to Beam, noting in online discussions that his teaching style offered a much softer touch than the stereotype of coaches who bark at players. He sent short personalized videos to fans for $30 apiece on his Cameo page. \u201cI can tell how much you care,\u201d noted one of the many five-star reviews.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe brought those successful \u2018old school\u2019 ways into a new age, always maintaining a high level of athletic and academic excellence,\u201d Erika Rosario, whose father, Stan Peters, preceded Beam as Laney football\u2019s head coach, said in a statement.<\/p>\n

Even his signature outro to locker-room speeches and motivational talks became legend \u2014 a sign-off to which Piedmont Police Chief Frederick Shavies, who had known Beam personally for years, paid homage at a news conference Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI knew that if Coach was here, he would end by saying \u2018Two claps, ready, ready,\u2019\u201d Shavies said.<\/p>\n

Keith Bhonapha, a running backs coach at Michigan State, recalled how Beam personally worked to get him back on track when he was cutting class. Eventually, the coach helped Bhonapha secure a university scholarship and, later, his own first coaching gig.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is how his life ends? It\u2019s a joke,\u201d Bhonapha said Friday, struggling to hold back tears. \u201cHe spent his whole life trying to keep kids out of trouble.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully his legacy is still bigger than this tragic story,\u201d he added, after gathering himself. \u201cIt\u2019s going to live on through all of us \u2014 all the people he helped.\u201d<\/p>\n

This is a developing story. Check back for updates. <\/p>\n

Shomik Mukherjee is a reporter covering Oakland. Call or text him at 510-905-5495 or email him at shomik@bayareanewsgroup.com.\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"OAKLAND \u2014 John Beam, the legendary football coach who shaped multiple generations of student athletes, anchoring Oakland\u2019s sports…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":53690,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[7,8,1327,138,181,23,100,143,145,144,127],"class_list":{"0":"post-53689","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-oakland","8":"tag-california","9":"tag-california-news","10":"tag-college-sports","11":"tag-crime-and-public-safety","12":"tag-latest-headlines","13":"tag-local-news","14":"tag-news","15":"tag-oakland","16":"tag-oakland-headlines","17":"tag-oakland-news","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53689","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=53689"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/53689\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/53690"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=53689"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=53689"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=53689"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}