What We Know about Suspect Arrested in Connection with Allegedly 'Targeted' Shooting of Last Chance U Coach John Beam By Liam Quinn

The fatal shooting of Last Chance U coach John Beam was targeted, police allege.

Beam died a day after he was shot on the campus of Laney College in Oakland, Calif., where he was the former head football coach and current athletic director, on Thursday, Nov. 13, police said at a press conference. He was 66.

Cedric Irving, 27, was subsequently arrested in connection with the shooting, according to Homicide Commander Gloria Beltran of the Oakland Police Department.

An Alameda County sheriff’s deputy arrested Irving at a BART station after observing that he matched a description of the suspect, Beltran said.

The case will be presented to the district attorney’s office for potential charging, according to the Oakland Police Department.

Oakland police Assistant Chief James Beere told reporters that police believe Irving knew Beam but that they “did not have a relationship.”

“This was a very targeted incident,” Beere claimed. “I will say 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.”

Irving was not a student at Laney, according to Beere, but he was allegedly known to “loiter” around the campus.

Beam was the football coach at Laney until 2024. Prior to his tenure at the college, he coached at Skyline High School.

Beere said Irving played football at Skyline but not at the same time Beam coached there.

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Irving is currently being held in Alameda County jail on suspicion of murder, according to jail records.

“Coach Beam is a giant in Oakland — a mentor, an educator and a lifeline for thousands of young people,” Mayor Barbara Lee said in a statement following the shooting. “For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family.”

In 2020, Beam’s team at Laney College was featured on Last Chance U, a Netflix docuseries following community college athletes trying to take advantage of what could be their final opportunity to make it.