OAKLAND, CA (TNND) — A suspect in the deadly shooting of retired “Last Chance U” football coach John Beam has been identified and arrested.
Cedric Irving Jr., a 27-year-old former high school football player, was identified as Beam’s shooter by police officials.
Irving played football at Skyline High School in Oakland, California, where Beam had coached in the past. Though Beam was not a coach when Irving Jr. was a player at the school.
According to Oakland Assistant Police Chief James Beere, Beams and Irving Jr. were acquainted. However, police authorities have declined to elaborate on the nature of any relationship between the two or any motive connected to the shooting.
“I will say that coach Beam, although they did not have a close relationship, was open to helping everybody in our community and this is not uncommon for him to have a relationship with someone that he would think needs help,” Beere told reporters.
“In this case, I can just tell you that the individual who was arrested went specifically to the campus for a specific reason.”
It wasn’t immediately clear on Friday if Irving had appointed or hired an attorney to speak on his behalf.
An Alameda County Sheriff’s deputy spotted Irving Jr. at the Bay Area Rapid Transit’s San Leandro Station at 3:15 a.m. on Friday and took him into custody, according to Gloria Beltran, commander of the OPD homicide unit.
“OPD investigators interviewed the suspect and he provided a statement regarding the shooting,” she said.
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Beam is best known as the coach in season five of the Netflix series “Last Chance U,” following players on a college football team who are struggling to make the best of limited or final opportunities.
