MABLETON, Ga. -- Roland Bridges came to the scene in Mableton to see if the horrible news he heard was true.
It was.
Edna Umeh was struck and killed while working a job she loved Thursday morning.
Umeh, a grandmother and a crossing guard, was directing traffic in front of Lindley Middle School when witnesses say a red vehicle came out of nowhere.
"He swerved into the center lane and the lady is like, 'Stop, stop,'" said Sakinah Anderson. "One cross guard went one way and she went the other way. Once she noticed he wasn't stopping she tried to turn around a little bit and he hit her."
Umeh was pronounced dead at the scene.
"Everybody loved her, was real popular everywhere she went,'" said Roland Bridges. "She had a magnetic personality and you couldn't help but like her."
Family members said she had a grandson and two other young relatives who attend the school.
The driver, 38-year-old Lamonte Roosevelt Whitaker, was injured and transported to Grady Memorial Hospital. He'll likely face charges based on the preliminary investigation, officials said.
PHOTOS: Crossing guard struck, killed
State Rep. Erica Thomas' daughter crosses the street to the school every day. She said she's committed to making changes to the busy stretch of Veterans Memorial Highway.
"Over 100 people every year 100 kids a year are killed by people that are going over the speed limit and that are driving recklessly in school zones and we have to do something about that," Thomas said.
Umeh's brother, Don Michael Lowery, said he was "numb" to hear the news.
"I've been out here with my sister some times when she's working and I see the cars fly up and down here even when she's in the street, and her co-worker was hit a couple of years ago right here," he said.
Grief counselors were made available to students and staff of the school.
