Team USA coach Steve Kerr reacts to shooting of Donald Trump - ESPN

ABU DHABI, United Arab Emirates — Calling it a «terrible» and «demoralizing day for our country,» Team USA coach Steve Kerr tried to summarize the emotions of his team Sunday as it is halfway across the world representing the nation in the wake of an assassination attempt on former President Donald Trump.

«This is a time where we feel very proud to represent our country wearing USA on our chest, competing in the Olympics,» Kerr said. «We've talked to the players about how important it's to show the best version of us as human beings to represent our country in a respectful, dignified manner. It makes you want to do that even more so, because this is really shameful for us to sit here and think about what happened and what's going on in our country.»

Kerr, whose father Malcolm was assassinated in 1984 in Beirut, Lebanon, has a long history of criticizing gun violence.

«It's such a demoralizing day for our country, and it's yet another example of not only our political division but also gun culture,» Kerr said. «A 20-year-old with an AR-15 trying to shoot the former president. It's hard to process everything, and it's scary to think about where this goes because of the issues that already exist in the country. So this is a terrible day.

»Thank God Trump wasn't hit, but it's just so demoralizing in every which way."

Early Sunday morning, the FBI identified the suspected gunman as 20-year-old Thomas Matthew Crooks. In a statement, the FBI said «this remains an active and ongoing investigation.»

Players and coaches learned of the events in Butler, Pennsylvania, when they awoke to the news Sunday morning.

«It's obviously very sad time in general,» Team USA star Stephen Curry said. «All the conversations around the election and