Suspect arrested in shooting death of beloved Oakland football coach | Oakland
A 27-year-old Skyline high school graduate who frequently stayed near Laney College was taken into custody in connection with the fatal shooting of Oakland football coach John Beam.
Police said the suspect was Cedric Irving Jr., who was captured before dawn at the San Leandro, Calif., Bart Station. and concluded an emergency search to find the person believed to be responsible.
The murder occurred a day after Beam, who became widely known after appearing in the Netflix series Last Chance U five years ago, voiced concerns about campus safety to Laney College administrators. His comments referenced all four Laney campuses and included the field house, where he was fatally shot.
Acting Oakland Police Chief James Beere described the attack during Friday’s briefing. “This was a very targeted incident,” he said, noting that Beam and the suspect were acquaintances but not close.
Beere also stated that the attacker came to campus for “a specific reason” but declined to provide details. He emphasized Beam’s presence in the community and said Beam is “open to helping everyone in our community.”
According to a reporter Citizen Beam, the news outlet, attended a meeting Wednesday at Laney’s downtown campus and used the meeting to express his discomfort with current security measures. Beam called on authorities to redeploy armed security guards, citing past thefts at the field house where he works every day.
Beam said the stolen items were never recovered and no suspects were identified by the university’s security contractor. He also questioned the recent idea of arming six guards and asked whether that would adequately solve the problem.
The county reportedly ended its partnership with the Alameda County sheriff’s office five years ago and switched to an unarmed law enforcement force. Mercury News.
The 66-year-old coach was shot at Laney College on Thursday and died the next day. The shooting was the latest incident in an epidemic of gun violence affecting the country. school And university Campuses across the USA.
Tributes and expressions of sorrow have since poured into From both the professional and high school sports communities following Beam’s death.
Beam’s coaching career began with a dominant run at Skyline High, where he led the team to 15 Oakland Athletic League championships from the 1980s through the early 2000s. He later had similar success at Laney College, where he left coaching last year to focus on his athletic director duties. After Netflix highlighted Laney’s football career in the 2020 season of Last Chance U, his impact reached a national audience.
