Former Laney College football coach and current athletic director John Beam died Friday a day after being shot on the school’s Oakland campus, police said.

Beam, a beloved Oakland football icon who was featured in the Netflix series “Last Chance U,” was shot late Thursday morning at the Laney College Fieldhouse, according to the Peralta Community College District. He was rushed to a local hospital and listed in critical condition. He died at about 10 a.m. Friday, according to police.

“We are devastated that John Beam, our loving husband, father, grandfather, brother, uncle, coach, mentor, and friend, has passed,” Beam’s family said in a statement read by police during a Friday afternoon news conference. “Our hearts are full from the outpouring of love and support from all who cared about him. We are deeply grateful for your continued prayers, well wishes and thoughts. At this time, we kindly ask everyone to fully respect our family’s privacy.”

Beam left his mark on young people on and off the field at Laney College and before that at Skyline High School, also in Oakland.

He joined Laney in 2004 as a running backs coach and became head coach in 2012, winning two league titles. According to his biography on the college’s website, 20 of his players have gone on to the NFL.

Two of Beam’s former players — brothers Nahshon and Rejzohn Wright, now in the NFL with the Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints — posted on social media after the shooting.

The Netflix “Last Chance U” docuseries focused on athletes at junior colleges striving to turn their lives around, and Beam’s Laney College Eagles starred in the 2020 season.

Piedmont police Chief Frederick Shavies, a former deputy chief in Oakland, called himself a friend, mentee and longtime admirer of Beam.

“John was so much more than a coach,” Shavies said. “He was a father figure to thousands of not only men but young women in our community. I know that I am not eloquent enough to put into words the indelible mark that Coach Beam has left on so many, not just in this region but around the state and around the nation.”

Shavies never had the opportunity to play for Beam, but Beam still played a role in Shavies’ upbringing.

“I lost my father when I was in high school and coach has, since I was 15, 16, 17 years old, always been there for me, has always reached out to me,” Shavies said. “And it’s not just me.”

Shavies said hundreds of people held a vigil Thursday night outside the hospital where Beam was being treated.

“The Skyline, Laney, Oakland, California, Hawaii, West Coast, San Diego family is mourning…at the loss of such an absolutely incredible human being,” Shavies said.

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee applauded Beam for mentoring youth in Oakland over the course of four decades.

“Coach Beam’s legacy isn’t measured in championships or statistics,” she said in a statement. “It’s measured in the thousands of young people he believed in, mentored, and refused to abandon, including my nephew, while at Skyline High School. He gave Oakland’s youth their best chance, and he never stopped fighting for them.”

Authorities arrested Cedric Irving Jr., 27, in connection with Beam’s shooting.

Assistant Oakland police Chief James Beere said Irving did know Beam, but they did not have a relationship.

“This was a very targeted incident, and I will say that Coach Beam, although they did not have a close relationship, was open to helping everybody in our community,” Beere said.

Irving played football at Skyline High School but not when Beam was there, and he is known to “loiter” on and around the Laney campus, Beere said.

“In this case, I can just tell you that the individual that was arrested went specifically to the campus for a specific reason,” Beere said.

Beam’s shooting came a day after a 15-year-old boy was shot at Skyline High School. The boy is recovering and in good spirits, police said.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.