‘Last Chance U’ Coach John Beam Killed in Campus Shooting

(Screengrab via YouTube/Netflix)

College football coach John Beam, a central figure in Netflix’s Last Chance U, was killed Thursday in a campus shooting at Laney College in Oakland.

In a statement on Friday police confirmed Beam was fatally shot at the community college’s downtown field house and said a suspect had been taken into custody.

Authorities have not released the individual’s name or provided details of what led to the lunchtime shooting but said an investigation was underway. The shooting triggered a full campus lockdown in an order that was only lifted Friday morning after ABC News reported that Beam had been shot in the head.

Beam had directed Laney College’s athletic programme since 2006, guiding its football operation and later becoming one of the standout presences in the fifth and final season of Last Chance U in 2020.

The popular docuseries followed Laney’s 2019 campaign, capturing the demands and strains facing under-resourced junior-college teams striving to remain competitive.

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee called Beam a “giant” whose influence stretched far beyond the sidelines.

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

Beam is being mourned by former players, colleagues and viewers who came to know him through the Netflix series. The college has not yet released a public statement on the arrest or forthcoming memorial arrangements.