Police say they’ve arrested a man suspected of gunning down a Long Beach City College student outside a North Long Beach Jack in the Box last year.

Authorities believe the gunman was trying to rob 20-year-old Guy Alford III, who was a beloved member of the LBCC Vikings football team.

Police identified the suspect as Edward Jacobs, a 30-year-old resident of Lynwood.

“Based on their investigation, detectives believe Jacobs approached Alford with the intent of committing a robbery, which ultimately resulted in Alford being shot by Jacobs,” the Long Beach Police Department said in a news release.

Guy Alford III, a former Long Beach City College football player was gunned down in Long Beach on Wednesday, Sept. 26, 2018. Photo courtesy Darnell Lacy.

Jacobs was already in custody at a Los Angeles jail on an unrelated charge when LBPD detectives arrested him on suspicion of murder today, police said. He’s been booked into Long Beach Jail and was being held on $2 million bail, according to authorities.

Alford was shot to death just after midnight on Sept. 26 last year. He was found in his car outside a Jack in the Box at 52nd Street and Atlantic Avenue.

Alford was a leader on the Vikings, where he played safety in 2017, according to Darnell Lacy, an LBCC football coach.

“Very respectful and hard working,” Lacy previously said. “Has a great family. He is truly gonna be missed.”

Amari Alford, 10, hugs his father during a vigil for his older brother Guy Alford III, 20, who was shot and killed at a drive-through fast food restaurant. Photo by Thomas R. Cordova.

A day after Alford’s death, his father came to the parking lot where he’d been shot. He said Alford was on a mission to finish his associate’s degree at LBCC and then get a nursing degree.

“I just really wanted him to get an education,” he said.

Police expect detectives to present their case against Jacobs to the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s office next week, at which point prosecutors will decide whether to file charges.

Jeremiah Dobruck is executive editor of the Long Beach Post where he oversees all day-to-day newsroom operations. In his time working as a journalist in Long Beach, he’s won numerous awards for his investigative reporting and editing. Before coming to the Post in 2018, he wrote for publications including the Press-Telegram, Orange County Register and Los Angeles Times. Reach him at [email protected] or @jeremiahdobruck on Twitter.