Laney College Athletic Director John Beam, dead at 66

Beam was fatally shot Thursday at the Laney College Fieldhouse. Over his coaching career, Beam worked with more than 2,500 students, coached over 500 games, and sent more than 30 student athletes to the NFL.

Romi Bales, Copy Editor

November 14, 2025

Photo: Stephon Autery

Longtime head coach for the Laney College Eagles, John Beam, retired in 2024 from coaching, but stayed on as the Director of Athletics.

John Edward Beam, 66, has died at Highland Hospital in Oakland, CA., following a gunshot wound sustained at Laney College campus Thursday. The Oakland Police Department announced that Beam died at 10 a.m. on Friday morning.

Beam coached high school and community college football in Oakland for 45 years

Beam was born in San Diego in January 1959. He moved to the Bay Area to follow his future wife, Cynthia ‘Cindi’ Rivera, as she attended University of California, Berkeley in 1980. They married in 1981.

Before coming to Laney, he started coaching in the Bay Area at Skyline High School, where he served as both head coach and athletic director between 1982 and 2003.

Beam started at Laney as a running back coach in 2004, became offensive coordinator in 2005, and head football coach in 2012. Beam retired from coaching in 2024, but continued to serve in his role as Laney’s athletic director since 2006.

At the same time, he served as director of the high school development program for the National Football League (NFL). Beam also served as the NFL’s regional director of the junior player development program.

Beam was awarded the California Community College’s Football Coach of the Year Award in 2018. That same year, the Laney football team, the Eagles, won the California Community College Athletic Association state football championship.

In 2020, Beam and his team appeared in the final season of Netflix’s “Last Chance U”, a documentary series that followed the seasons of various community college football teams.

On Thursday morning, a suspect entered the Laney Fieldhouse and fatally shot Beam. He was treated at Highland Hospital where he passed away from his injuries.

At time of writing, Oakland Police Department have taken a former Laney student, Cedric Irving Jr., into custody in connection with the shooting, according to the SF Chronicle.

Over his coaching career, Beam coached more than 2,500 students, over 500 games, and sent more than 30 student athletes to the NFL.

Beam is survived by his wife, Rivera, their two children, and their grandchildren.

Desmond Meagley, Editor-in-Chief, and Eliot Faine, Managing Editor contributed to reporting this story.

This article was edited on Nov. 16 8:15 p.m. PST to reflect the accurate number of Beam’s children.

This article has been updated as information from the Oakland Police Department became available.

About the Contributor

Romi Bales, Copy Editor

Romi Bales (they/them) is a Bay Area transplant, originally from San Diego. They are a first-year staff writer with The Citizen and have worked as an editor and Editor in Chief for several academic publications including Humble Pie Literary Magazine, The Production Online Newspaper, and Inscribe Writing and Visual Anthology. They received a Bachelor of the Arts degree in Writing and Literature from the California College of the Arts in 2020. In their free time, Romi enjoys reading and writing queer fiction novels, researching Irish culture, and memorizing information about sustainable farming practices.