WAGENER, S.C. (WJBF)- A community is mourning the loss of a local teacher today after she was killed in a freak accident.

The woman — identified as Juenelle Robinson — was hit by a falling power pole after a work truck hit some power lines in Wagener and pulled down those power poles.  

Juenelle Robinson was a teacher at Wagener-Salley High School.

Students, staff, and people who knew her are in shock today as they grieve the loss of a beloved teacher, daughter, and friend.

“I mean, you walking in a classroom that your teacher is no longer there. It’s hurtful, it’s like losing a friend that you just bonded with and that you just met. So, it hurts,” Wagener-Salley High School Parent Ssaavebra Sampson said.

Ssaavebra Sampson’s daughter is a freshman at Wagener-Salley High. Robinson was her social studies teacher, and Sampson says it seems like the whole town is feeling the loss.

“When I heard the sirens, I kinda figured that it was something bad that happened here in town. And then, once I got here to pick up her and her sister from school, they had put them on a little soft lock down because of what was going on.” 

People working near the crash were in disbelief.

“Nobody could get to the lady because of the powerlines. So, it was a little while before the EMS was able to get to her. And as we understand, she was alive at the time but passed away later in the hospital,” witness Danny Calvert said. 

Calvert says he’s never seen anything like that before.

“I woke up early this morning and couldn’t go back to sleep just thinking about it. Like I said, it’s almost like a scene out of a movie. It’s like an unfortunate chain of events and it just effects everyone, I think.” 

Now, parents say they’ll do their best to comfort their children and the rest of the War Eagle family as they move forward honoring Ms. Robinson.

“To me, every time I encountered her, she’s always been happy to me. So, I mean, that’s how I took her: someone who was happy and who was full of life,” Sampson said. 

The Wagener-Salley High School Friday football game and school open house have been canceled to honor Robinson.