The 15-year-old girl and her father, 44, were sitting in a ute outside a southwest Sydney school on about 3pm on June 9 when a gunman tried to shoot through the windscreen.
The pistol jammed, however, and both fled the vehicle.
But Detective Acting Superintendent Jason Smith on Thursday said the torment did not end there.
''The offender then pursued the second victim, which was a teenage girl, he chased her and he attempted to fire the pistol, and again that pistol failed to fire,'' he said.
''I'm not sure how you would ever get over something like this … they are understandably still affected by the incident, particularly the young girl."
He believed the targeted, calculated attack was contracted from overseas, and the father and daughter were hunted due to a family association.
"It's hard to know whether they knew the girl was there or not (but) it's in a busy street, at school pick-up time, the possibility there would be children or other people in the vicinity is quite high," he said.
The detective addressed media following the arrest of a 19-year-old man alleged to have tracked the ute and coordinated an attempted assassination.
Det Act Supt Smith said ''cheap and expendable'' youths were often motivated to commit contract crimes by small sums of money and notoriety.
His taskforce, Falcon, has arrested dozens of teenaged alleged contract criminals.
''We certainly have seen a trend, or an increase, in the use of young people to commit these offences,'' he said.
''The thing they need to understand is once you become involved in this type of criminal behaviour … at best, you'll be arrested and will go to jail, and at worst, you'll end up dead.''
Officers arrested the 19-year-old accused David Kulitapa during a traffic stop in Sans Souci on Wednesday.
He is not alleged to have been a gunman nor driver.
He was charged with knowingly direct activities of a criminal group, and two counts of attempt to discharge loaded arms with intent to murder, among other offences.
Some charges relate to a property search in Cronulla that allegedly turned up a knife and illicit drugs.
The 19-year-old accused did not apply for bail on Thursday and will remain in custody until his matter is mentioned on December 17.
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