OAKLAND — Longtime Oakland football coach and Laney College Athletic Director John Beam was shot Thursday on the college’s campus, multiple sources confirmed to this news organization.
The shooting happened at around 11:53 a.m. inside the campus’ fieldhouse, an athletic facility near the football and baseball fields around Fifth Avenue and East Eighth Street. His condition was not immediately available.
The gunfire marked the second shooting at an Oakland school in as many days, leaving the city’s leaders and its education scene reeling from the jolt of on-campus violence.
On Wednesday, a 15-year-old boy was shot in the torso after a confrontation inside a bathroom at Skyline High School in the Oakland hills. Police arrested two male suspects — a 15-year-old and a 16-year-old — and recovered two semi-automatic firearms.
Motives for both incidents remain under investigation.
No arrests have been announced in the Laney College shooting.
A legendary coach in Oakland’s prep and college football scene, Beam spent nearly two decades patrolling the sidelines of Skyline High School games before making the jump to Laney College, where he coached until 2024.
His record was formidable.
He built the Skyline Titans into the premier program in the Oakland Athletic League as head coach from 1987 to 2004. He won 15 league championships and 11 section championships, while accumulating four undefeated seasons and going undefeated in league play in the 90’s.
Beam then went to Laney College, first as an assistant coach, and later becoming the school’s athletic director and head football coach. The Eagles won the 2018 California Community College Athletic Association title.
A national audience was introduced to Beam when his team was featured in the Netflix documentary “Last Chance U” in 2020.
He retired from coaching after the 2024 season, saying simply that he was ready for a change. Even so, he remained at the college as its athletic director.
After stepping away from the gridiron, Beam couldn’t recall a single favorite league championship or league victory. Rather, he reflected on the numerous students he coached and the lives they led after graduating — be it on the football field or elsewhere in Oakland.
“They came back, they gave back,” Beam said. “They went to the NFL, they got jobs. They’re plumbers, they’re therapists, they’re working for the city of Oakland.”
Check back for updates.
Bay Area News Group reporter Joseph Dycus contributed to this report.