Family and friends gathered Thursday evening at City Park in New Rochelle to celebrate the life of Ryan Hines, the 37-year-old man who was shot and killed in Claremont on Wednesday morning.

While people in attendance did not want to speak on camera, they tell News 12 that Hines was born and raised in New Rochelle and lived in Mt. Vernon.

According to his girlfriend, Hines worked as a porter at 11 different buildings and was at the one on College Avenue about three times a week.

While the alleged shooter, Jimmy Avila, had told News 12 that the building workers were threatening his life, Hines' girlfriend says it was the other way around.

She says that just a week before the shooting, Avila had threatened Hines, and Hines had called his boss to say he no longer felt comfortable working there.

Hines' girlfriend says his boss did not take the threats seriously, and did not make any changes.

Hines had gotten a new job at a different company, and his girlfriend says the day he was killed was supposed to be his second-to-last day at this one.

He leaves behind two children, a 15-year-old and 12-year-old. News 12 is told that their mother was also killed several years ago.