John Beam Shooting Suspect Charged with Murder After Former Football Coach Is Fatally Shot By Angel Saunders

The suspect arrested in the fatal shooting of football coach John Beam on a California college campus has been charged with murder. 

On Monday, Nov. 17, Alameda District Attorney Ursula Jones Dickson announced charges against Cedric Irving Jr., 27, in the fatal shooting of the 66-year-old Laney College athletic director, who died on Friday, Nov. 14, after being shot in the head the day prior.

Irving was charged with murder and the use of a firearm, and faces 50 years to life in state prison for both offenses, the statement said.

“On behalf of the Alameda County District Attorney’s Office, and my personal family, I wish to express our deepest condolences to Coach John Beam’s family. Coach Beam represents the best of Oakland. Just as Coach Beam’s love for community has been felt for decades, so will his loss,” Dickson said.

She added that Alameda County will be implementing “mandatory minimum sentences for individuals who illegally possess guns” because “schools, students, and teachers need to thrive in a safe gun-free environment.”

Beam was well-known to the Oakland community, with Mayor Barbara Lee calling the coach “a giant” who was also “a mentor, an educator and a lifeline for thousands of young people” in a statement issued after his death.

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“For over 40 years, he has shaped leaders on and off the field, and our community is shaken alongside his family,” the mayor said of Beam.

Beam was also recognized outside of Oakland for being featured in the Netflix docuseries, Last Chance U, when his team at Laney College appeared on the series’s fifth and final season.

“Elite athletes with difficult pasts turn to junior college football for a last shot at turning their lives around and achieving their dreams,” a synopsis for the show reads.

Irving was known to Beam but they “did not have a relationship,” Assistant Chief of Police James Beere with the Oakland Police Department said during a news conference on Friday, adding that Irving, who was not enrolled at the school, was on the college campus Thursday “for a specific reason.”

The 27-year-old was later arrested by an Alameda County sheriff’s deputy at a BART station after the deputy believed Irving matched the description of the suspect, Homicide Commander Gloria Beltran of the Oakland PD said.

Police said that Irving confessed to killing Beam during an interrogation after he was taken into custody, NBC Bay Area reported Monday, Nov. 17, citing an affidavit in support of the charges filed.

“During an interview, Cedric Irving was admonished of his rights and acknowledged them before providing a statement,” the affidavit allegedly said, according to the news outlet.

He was reportedly then shown a firearm that was found in his bag.

“Irving admitted that the gun located in his bag belonged to immediate possession. When shown a photograph of the handgun that was recovered, Irving admitted that the firearm belonged to him.”

Irving does not yet have an attorney, according to Oaklandside.

Beam was the football coach at Laney until 2024, before becoming the athletic director.

Throughout his career, Beam mentored a number of players who would later turn pro. Twenty of his former students became NFL players, and seven of those players competed in the Super Bowl. He coached Super Bowl champion Patriots cornerback Sterling Moore, former Broncos running back C.J. Anderson, former Steelers offensive tackle Marvel Smith and brothers Nahshon Wright and Rezjohn Wright of the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints respectively.