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."