Trump shooting shows Americans need to pull together. This is our wake-up call.

There is still much we don’t know about what happened at Donald Trump's campaign rally on Saturday in Butler, Pennsylvania. But what investigators are saying − a former president of the United States and the presumptive Republican presidential nominee was the target of an apparent assassination attempt − is shocking.

Secret service agents quickly surrounded the former president . Trump raised a fist and appeared to shout, "Fight!" before being rushed from the stage. One person in the audience was killed and at least two were seriously wounded. The suspected shooter also was killed.

It’s hard to put into words the seriousness of what happened – and what could have happened.

This needs to be a wake-up call for the country.

Shooting at Trump rally is shocking moment for our divided nation

As a nation, we are already deeply divided as Trump and President Joe Biden prepare to face off again in an election where the stakes seem to be extraordinarily high.

No matter what one thinks of Trump, or how much one may disagree with him and his policies, there is no excuse for the violence that took place.

As Biden said in a statement : “I have been briefed on the shooting at Donald Trump’s rally in Pennsylvania. I’m grateful to hear that he’s safe and doing well. I’m praying for him and his family and for all those who were at the rally, as we await further information. ... There’s no place for this kind of violence in America. We must unite as one nation to condemn it.”

What's wrong with us? Trump rally shooting breeds social media lies and sick conspiracies.

I’m extremely sad and disheartened that this awful event happened. As an American citizen. As a human. We must be better than this.

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It's time to turn down heat of our political rhetoric

My hope is that for the sake of our country, Americans will take this awful moment to turn down the heat of our rhetoric and pull together as a nation.

And I hope, no matter your political views, that we all can agree with what our current president said about the attempt on the life of our former president: We must unite as one nation to condemn it.

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at ijacques@usatoday.com or on X, formerly Twitter: @ Ingrid_Jacques

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Trump shooting shows Americans need to pull together. This is our wake-up call.