Traumatised primary school children who witnessed the gangland-style shooting of career criminal Jim Carlisle in Co Armagh are being offered specialist counselling.
A support team is to help pupils at St Brendan's Primary School in Lurgan following the attack.
The 36-year-old was shot four times as he was picking his child up from school on Monday afternoon.
Despite being shot twice in the arm and twice in the chest he remains in a stable condition in hospital.
Dozens of children and parents witnessed the drive-by shooting.
The gunmen fired from a passing BMW car, which was discovered on fire in the Deramore Drive area of Lurgan shortly afterwards.
Police are looking at a number of lines of enquiry including the possibility that the shooting may be linked to Carlisle's arrest for the double murder of Craigavon couple Hugh and Jackie McGeough in 2011.
Carlisle was charged along with convicted drug dealer Malcolm McKeown of murdering the couple in their Legahory Court home, but the charges were later withdrawn.
He has a lengthy criminal record, including pleading guilty in 2007 to assault and possession of an offensive weapon at Craigavon Crown Court.
He had also been charged with the murder of Peter McNally in Craigavon in October 2001, but pleaded guilty to wounding the teenager, who was shot dead by two masked gunmen as he slept in a chair in a house at Westacres in the town.
Education minister John O'Dowd said yesterday he had ordered a specialist support team be sent to the school.
"The emotional well being of pupils is paramount," he said.
"I have asked for a critical incident team to be dispatched to the school to offer support and assistance.
"I also want to commend school staff who reacted courageously during and after the attack, to ensure the safety of their pupils. The actions of St Brendan's staff are in stark contrast to those who carried this attack."
Upper Bann PUP representative Sophie Long said the children who witnessed the shooting "require the proper support and those who carried it out should seriously question their principles".
"People have a right to live free from violence. We ask that everyone assist the PSNI in their investigations and emphasise our rejection of all violence."
