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by CollegiateTimes.com
Monday, April 16th 2007 4:21PM
Downtown remains supportive in face of tragedy
Michelle Rivera, CT News Reporter
Early this morning, the voices of
the police erupted from loudspeakers as they drove through downtown
streets asking people in the downtown businesses to close their doors
and remain inside.
Restaurants and shops closed down
and as tragedy unfolded on the Virginia Tech campus, the streets were
subdued.
"It seemed pretty quiet this
morning," said Richard Beyma, manager of Jimmy John's Gourmet
Sandwiches. He had heard of the shootings at approximately 9:30am when
an employee called in and told him the news. "We had to close down
eventually because it wasn't safe, and the police were ordering that
everyone lock their doors and stay inside. A lot of (our) employees were
also on campus and had to stay indoors and couldn't come in to work for
their own safety," he said.
Later in the day, Jimmy John's
received calls from the VT Emergency Medical Services and Blacksburg EMS
for catering orders. Both services received discounts. They opened up
the restaurant again in the late afternoon after the police had control
of the situation.
"It's odd that this is happening
here," Beyma said. "Blacksburg isn't the type of town you'd expect
shootings and bomb threats in."
Leslie Hager-Smith, newly appointed
director of the downtown merchants of Blacksburg, agreed.
"I've lived here 25 years and it's
completely out of character with anything that has happened before," she
said. "I don't think most of us understand what happened. It's a
gut-wrenching, tragic event."
Shane Mckelvy, line cook at Gillies,
arrived at work at around noon after the shootings took place. There
were a few customers when he came in, he said, and after serving them,
the restaurant closed down due to the tragedy at Tech. They remain
closed for the rest of the day.
"We've been quiet all morning and
opened late," said Hal Bullock, manager of Pee Wee's Pit Barbeque. To
show their support, Pee Wee's are allowing anyone in town's service,
such as the police, to eat for free for the rest of the day.
"This isn't a downtown story, a
community story, or a Tech story," said Hager-Smith. "It's much vaster
than that. Our prayers go out to the families and students involved."
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