The two brothers suspected in the Boston Marathon bombing were described by their uncle as "losers" who were "not being able to settle themselves, and hating anyone who did."
The suspects' uncle, Ruslan Tsarni, said that his family has nothing to do with the two brothers and that he last spoke with his brother, the boys' father, a few months ago. Tsarni said he first learned of the brothers' possible involvement when reporters contacted him early this morning.
The suspects — one killed, one captured alive — are brothers of Chechen origin, at least one a legal permanent resident of the United States, law enforcement officials told NBC News.
The suspect captured alive Friday was identified as Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, 19, born in Kyrgyzstan, holding a Massachusetts driver's license and living in the Boston suburb of Cambridge. He was the suspect in the white hat in surveillance photos from the marathon released by the FBI.
(Read more: Two People in Custody in Boston Bombing Hunt)
"Of course, we're ashamed," Tsarni said. "Yes, we're ashamed. They're children of my brother who had little influence of them honestly as much as I know."
When the younger Dzhokhar was on the run, Tsarni urged him to contact authorities. He cited "being losers, not being able to settle themselves and thereby just hating everyone who did" as a possible motive for their alleged involvement.
"I say Dzhokhar, if you're alive, turn yourself in and ask for forgiveness from the victims, from the injured and from those who left," he said. "Ask forgiveness from these people."
(Read more: Photos from Boston Lock-Down)
He added that the alleged attack has nothing to do with Chechnya.
Heput a shame on the Tsarnaev family, he put a shame on the entire Chechnyan ethnicity."
The brothers' father, speaking from Russia, told The Associated Press that he is "a true angel."