College football coach John Beam, who was featured in the Netflix series “Last Chance U”, has died after being shot on campus, the Oakland Police Department said Friday, and a suspect has been arrested.
Police Chief Floyd Mitchell announced the coach's death at a news conference on Friday, a day after the shooting at Laney College.
“This was a very targeted incident,” Assistant Chief James Beere said, adding that the suspect and Beam knew each other and although they weren’t close, the coach was “open to helping everybody in our community.”
Beere did not elaborate on how they knew each other or why the suspect was on campus, saying the suspect played football at Skyline High School but not when Beam worked there. The suspect was taken into custody without any altercation and a gun has been recovered, the assistant chief added.
Few other details were available. It was the second shooting in two days at a school in Oakland.
The Netflix docuseries focused on athletes at junior colleges striving to turn their lives around, and Beam's Laney College Eagles starred in the 2020 season. Beam came across as competitive, but he also seemed to form connections with his players.
Beam, currently serving as athletic director, joined Laney College in 2004 as a running backs coach and became head coach in 2012, winning two league titles. According to his biography on the college’s website, 20 of his players have gone on to the NFL.

Associated Press US and World News Video
CBS News Crime
KRON4 News Bay Area
NBC Southern California
Law & Crime
CNN Health
Today in History
PBS NewsHour US
Reuters US Top
Daily Voice
The Daily Beast