The Latest: Memorial held for slain Marine outside Atlanta

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (AP) — The latest on the Chattanooga shootings at two military facilities:

9:30 p.m.

A large crowd has gathered at a suburban Atlanta high school to remember a Marine who was fatally shot in an attack on military facilities in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Sprayberry High School in the Atlanta suburb of Marietta hosted a vigil for Lance Cpl. Squire Wells Tuesday evening. Wells, known as “Skip,” attended Sprayberry and Georgia Southern University before enlisting in the Marine Corps.

Wells was texting his girlfriend Thursday. His last two words were “ACTIVE SHOOTER.”

During the ceremony, ROTC instructor Lt. Commander Dennis Wonders read final orders relieving Wells of duty and officials said a memorial plaque would be installed on campus in his honor.

Gov. Nathan Deal has ordered flags to fly at half-staff for Wells and Navy Petty Officer 2nd Class Randall Smith of Rossville until July 30.

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6 p.m.

U.S. and state flags in South Carolina are flying at half-staff through Saturday to honor the five military service members killed in last week’s shootings in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Gov. Nikki Haley directed the lowering of flags on state property after President Barack Obama issued a proclamation Tuesday regarding U.S. flags flown at public buildings across the country.

Obama’s order came five days after four Marines and one Navy sailor were killed during shootings at two Tennessee military sites. The president’s move followed congressional orders to lower flags at the U.S. Capitol.

South Carolina also recently flew its flags at half-staff to honor nine black parishioners gunned down in Charleston last month. Their deaths sparked a nationwide conversation about race and Confederate symbols after photos emerged showing the man accused of the killings posing with the Confederate flag.

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2:40 p.m.

A person close to the family says the man who killed five troops in an attack on two military sites in Tennessee wrote in late 2013 of being a failure and having a worthless life after he lost his job at a power plant.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity on Tuesday out of concern that being identified publicly would have business repercussions. The person says the writings of Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez were that of someone who was clearly depressed.

The person says the writings were described by the family, but the person has not read them. The writings were found by the FBI in the family home.

Abdulazeez was fired from a job at an Ohio power plant in 2013 after what an official described as a failed drug test.

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2 p.m.

An attorney says the man who killed five troops in an attack on two military sites in Tennessee stayed with an uncle in Jordan last year, but only to help him with his business.

Abed al-Kader Ahmad al-Khateeb says his client is an uncle of the gunman, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez. He says his client, Asaad Ibrahim Asaad Haj Ali, was arrested Friday by Jordanian government officials.

Al-Khateeb says investigators took computers and cellphones from his client’s home but have not charged him with anything. Al-Khateeb says he has not been allowed to meet with his client.

The attorney says Abdulazeez is not religious and did not belong to any sort of organization or political party.

A Jordanian government official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case with the media, could not immediately confirm whether the uncle was in custody.

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12:45 p.m.

The U.S. flag atop the White House is flying at half-staff in remembrance of five service members who were killed in last week’s Chattanooga, Tennessee shooting.

President Barack Obama issued an order Tuesday to lower the flag, following similar moves at the U.S. Capitol and even by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump.

The order also follows criticism of the White House.

U.S. flags flown at all public buildings and grounds, including military posts, will fly at half-staff until sunset Saturday.

Four Marines and one Navy sailor were killed during shootings by 24-year-old Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez at two Tennessee military sites.

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11:45 a.m.

President Barack Obama says the U.S. will keep doing everything in its power to protect American military members after last week’s killing of five troops in Chattanooga, Tennessee.

Obama is speaking to the Veterans of Foreign Wars convention in Pittsburgh. He says the U.S. honors the four Marines and one sailor killed. He says the nation is drawing strength from Chattanooga as it sends an unmistakable message that the U.S. won’t give in to fear or attempts to change the American way of life.

Obama says the U.S. must remain vigilant in protecting the homeland. He says the details about the Chattanooga attack aren’t yet clear. But he says the Islamic State group and al-Qaida have encouraged attacks on U.S. soil, including against U.S. troops.

Obama says small terrorist cells and so-called “lone wolves” are hard to prevent.

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11:25 a.m.

A lawyer says an uncle of the shooter in last week’s killing of five U.S. servicemen in Tennessee has been in custody in Jordan since a day after the attack.

Abed al-Kader Ahmad al-Khateeb told The Associated Press on Tuesday that he was barred from seeing his client and that family members were prevented from visiting. Al-Khateeb identified his client as Asaad Ibrahim Asaad Haj Ali, a maternal uncle of the Tennessee attacker, Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez.

The Tennessee shooter had spent several months in Jordan last year, and a Jordanian government official said Tuesday that some of Abdulazeez’ relatives in Jordan were being questioned as part of an investigation into his stay in the kingdom.

The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the case with the media, did not know if the uncle was in detention.

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Associated Press writer Karin Laub contributed to this report.

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7:24 a.m.

Qatar says the shooter in the killing of four Marines and a U.S. sailor in Tennessee last week transited through the Gulf state on his way back from a visit to Jordan but never set foot outside the airport.

Qatar’s government media office made the comments in a statement responding to questions from The Associated Press on Tuesday following news reports that Muhammad Youssef Abdulazeez had visited the country.

The statement says Abdulazeez changed planes Doha’s Hamad International Airport on his way to the United States in November 2014.

It adds that statements suggesting “Abdulazeez entered the State of Qatar are false.”

Qatar has emerged as a major long-haul transit hub in the Middle East thanks to the rapid growth of government-backed Qatar Airways.

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Associated Press writers Adam Schreck and Karin Laub contributed to this report.

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This story has been corrected to show that the attorney’s name is Abed al-Kader Ahmad al-Khateeb, not Abdel Qader al-Khatib. The uncle’s name is Asaad Ibrahim Asaad Haj Ali, not Asaad Ibrahim Abdulazeez Haj Ali.

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