John Beam, a cherished football coach whose mentorship and care touched the lives of thousands of people, has died after being shot Thursday on an Oakland college campus — a devastating loss for a California community still reeling from another act of school gun violence just days earlier.

Oakland police say John Beam, the football coach featured in Netflix’s “Last Chance U,” died Friday after a campus shooting.

Oakland Mayor Barbara Lee called Beam a “giant” in a statement, writing, “Coach Beam is a giant in Oakland—a mentor, an educator and a lifeline for thousands of young people. For over 40 years, he has...