Former American football coach John Beam, who was prominently featured in Netflix series Last Chance U, has been shot, according to US media.
Police were called to the athletics building on the campus of Laney College in Oakland, California, just before noon on Thursday. Mr Beam was the only victim reported, and he was taken to hospital with unspecified injuries.
Mr Beam was featured in the fifth season of Last Chance U. The series profiles him and his team, the Laney Eagles, as they fend off rival teams in the northern California city.
The attacker, who has not been identified, is still on the run. Police say he was last seen wearing dark clothing, and have not released a suspected motive.
The shooting triggered a lockdown as police responded to a suspected active shooting. They declared the campus safe after a search found no active threat.
University officials initially described the victim as a senior member of the Laney College athletic staff. They later confirmed to US media that Mr Beam, the college’s current athletic director, had been shot.
Mr Beam, 66, spent more than four decades coaching football in Oakland before retiring from coaching last year. He has previously won the prestigious Coach of the Year award from the California Community College Athletic Association (CCCAA).
The fifth season of Last Chance U, which premiered in 2020, prominently featured Mr Beam.
The eight-part documentary series focused on the successes and struggles of the team, as well as the socioeconomics and the gentrification of the city of Oakland.
Laney College is a public community college founded in 1953. It is located about 13 miles (21km) from the centre of San Francisco.
According to a college profile, Mr Beam has coached 20 players who have gone on to play professionally for the NFL, as well as more than 100 who later played for Division 1 teams.
He has been outspoken about his efforts to help train his players for the their post-athletic careers, and has boasted of the number of players who graduate with good grades after training with him.
In a 2022 interview, after Last Chance U was released, he described his goal of inspiring his students to pursue a variety of career opportunities.
“I put the jerseys [of Laney alumni in the NFL] up there to inspire folks,” he told KQED.
“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.”
