Oakland reels over coach's slaying

The thin young man appeared oblivious to the thick mist raining down on him on the edge of the Laney College campus Thursday morning.

- BY JAMES RAINEY

FLORENCE MIDDLETON A HAT is part of a memorial at Laney College, where John Beam was fatally shot.

His bloodshot, watery eyes suggested he had been crying as he stood in front of a shrine of votive candles, posters, pennants and heartfelt notes, all left for John Beam, a beloved football coach who led generations of young players in Oakland.

There's been a lot of grieving since another young man walked into Laney’s athletic offices and shot Beam in the head for no apparent reason. The San Francisco Chronicle reported the 27-year-old suspect — who was acquainted with Beam but had not played for him — told investigators he was convinced Beam had somehow used “witchcraft” on him.

Beam, 66, died a day after the Nov. 13 attack in Oakland, where for more than four decades he coached, first at Skyline High School and then at Laney, a community college near Lake Merritt.