Oakland Laney College Shooting Sends Athletic Staff Member to Hospital

A staff member at Oakland’s Laney College was hospitalized after being shot in a campus athletic facility on Thursday, district officials said.

The shooting, which occurred around noon in the Laney Field House, triggered a brief lockdown while Oakland police secured the campus and investigated.

The lockdown was lifted after police confirmed there was no longer an active threat, but Laney College will remain closed for the rest of the day, the Peralta Community College District said in a statement.

“The safety of our students, faculty, and staff is our highest priority, and we are working closely with police and emergency personnel to ensure the campus remains protected,” the statement said. “This is a frightening moment for our community. We encourage everyone to follow official instructions, and rely only on verified communications from the District and law enforcement.”

At an afternoon briefing, Oakland Police Assistant Chief James Beere confirmed the shooter is not in custody and fled the scene.

“We are currently asking the public’s help in locating a … potential suspect in the case,” Beere said. The suspect was described as a man wearing dark clothing and a black hoodie.

District officials did not name the victim, identifying them only as “a senior member of our athletic staff.” The San Francisco Chronicle, however, reported that it was athletic director and longtime football coach John Beam, citing a source who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

Beam and the Laney Eagles football team were featured in the fifth and final season of Netflix’s Last Chance U, a docuseries that followed three junior college football programs across the country. In 2018, he guided the Eagles to a state championship and a No. 1 ranking in the country.

In a 2020 interview with KQED, when the Eagles’ season of Last Chance U was released, Beam spoke about training up young men not just to play football but to succeed in life.

“I put the jerseys [of Laney alumni in the NFL] up there to inspire folks,” he said. “But then on Thursdays, I bring in other folks that come in that have played for me that are now doctors, or write books, or are police officers, or firemen. And so I want to let everybody know that these are all possibilities.”

Thursday’s shooting was the second at an Oakland school in two days. On Wednesday afternoon, a student was shot and injured at Skyline High School in the Oakland Hills, police said. Two minors were taken into custody, and two firearms were recovered from the scene.

“I am heartbroken by today’s shooting at Laney College — the second shooting on an Oakland campus in one week,” Mayor Barbara Lee said in a statement. “OPD is investigating this incident. We must continue confronting the ongoing gun violence crisis that is robbing our community of safety and stealing futures. This is a moment for our community to come together and address this violence with urgency.”

KQED’s Ayah Ali-Ahmad contributed to this report.