OAKALND, Calif. (KRON) — Loved ones are mourning the man who was shot and killed in Oakland earlier this week.

Police say it happened just before 9 p.m. on Lakeshore Avenue near Lake Merritt.

“He was a wonderful guy and he was just everybody’s friend. There’s no reason for this, this is absolutely senseless,” said longtime partner Meridith Lear.

Lear identifies the man killed in a shooting in Oakland Wednesday night as 33-year-old Devon Stanford who was her partner of five years.

“More than anything he was my best friend and he was just an amazing guy very loving, very loyal,” Lear said. “He would do anything for his friends, he would do anything to help strangers.”

Left heartbroken mourning his death, Lear says Stanford was the stepfather of her autistic son and leaves behind a young daughter.

Longtime friend Marie King says Stanford, who is originally from Texas, loved music and fashion.

“He was just so energetic you can just feel the energy coming from him and he helped everybody,” King said. “He loved everybody. He ad no enemies he was such a wonderful person.”

Around 9 p.m. Wednesday night, Oakland police responded to a shooting on the 1200 block of Lakeshore Avenue near Lake Merritt.

Police believe the victim was shot and robbed. Stanford was taken to the hospital where he later died.

Lear says Stanford was taking an after-dinner stroll around the lake.

“We hope we’re able to figure out what happened and who did this and why,” Lear said. “It makes absolutely no sense. We should be able to go to our local park and have recreation and feel safe in our city.”

In the meantime, Lear is raising money for funeral arrangements and for his daughter.

Oakland police say this is the third homicide in the area in the last three months and have vowed to step up patrols.