Adrianna Couch admitted her "heart sunk" when she learned police identified her cousin, Joseph Couch, as the suspected Kentucky highway shooter.
"Honestly, my heart sunk," Adrianna Couch confessed to WKYT-TV Thursday. "It was embarrassing."
Couch, 32, has evaded capture since Saturday, after he allegedly used an AR-15 to shoot at unsuspecting drivers from a cliff ledge next to Interstate 75, near London, Kentucky, according to authorities.
Twelve cars and five people were struck by a hail of gunfire.
Afterward Couch – a former National Guardsman – fled into the Kentucky wilderness, ditching his car and the alleged weapon, leading police on a frantic manhunt for the past week.
"We've had multiple police come to Grandma's house, mom's house. They've been everywhere looking for this man," said Adrianna.
Couch has been charged with five counts of attempted murder and five counts of first-degree assault in connection with the incident. More charges are likely.
In a text message sent to an unidentified woman before the shooting, Couch said he planned to "kill a lot of people" and then himself, after purchasing the rifle and 1,000 rounds of ammo that same day, according to the arrest affidavit, USA TODAY reported.
"There's nothing in this world that he could do... to excuse the behavior of what he did," Adrianna said. "There's nothing."
She is pleading for her cousin to put an end to the manhunt and surrender to authorities.
"Please turn yourself in because you are very wrong for the actions that you caused," she said in a message directed to Couch. "And it's been an embarrassment to the family that you acted like this... it hurts."
A motive remains under investigation.
