A mother was clinging to life after suffering a gunshot wound to the head outside a Brooklyn middle school Tuesday afternoon, police said.

The wounded woman was found sitting on a bench next to JHS 278 on Stuart Street in Marine Park around 4 p.m., according to police.

NYPD Assistant Chief Michael Kemper told reporters at the scene that “there is indication” the shooting “could have potentially been a suicide attempt.”

The 36-year-old woman was taken to Brookdale University Hospital in critical condition, according to police.

Near the scene, an emotional man was photographed screaming while strapped into a gurney and placed in an ambulance. It was unclear if he was connected to the shooting.

The man had a young girl in tow with him who was unharmed, officials said. A female officer cradled the small child outside the crime scene, photos showed.

Outside the locked-down school, women cried and hugged each other as police cordoned off the shooting scene with crime tape and looked for evidence.

But as the hours went on and darkness began to fall, dozens of parents outside became irate and demanded to know why their children were not being released to them. 

“The long duration they kept us here without any communication really aggravated the situation,” a 46-year old father named Chester said.

“I think I was getting more information from hearsay and rumors around the area,” said the worried parent, who declined to share his last name with The Post.

The situation had left Chester “very scared” initially, but he was “ fortunate and blessed” to eventually be reunited with his 11-year-old daughter, Chelsea.

“Everyone was scared because they didn’t know what was happening and they just told us they couldn’t tell us what was happening,” the sixth-grader told The Post of the lockdown.

No food was provided to the students during the several hours they were kept in the building, she said.

 “We couldn’t get anything from our backpacks. We had to wait,” Chelsea said.

Correction officer J. Byron, 41, learned that her 13-year-old was being held in the building when she got a call from him at 5:10 p.m.

“The school never notified me to tell me this situation happened,” Byron said, as she urged other parents not to be deferential to school officials while their children were held inside.

“We’re gonna start to tear this front door to get the kids out. I’m dead-a– serious,” Byron yelled to a crowd of parents, many of whom appeared irate. 

“I just got off the phone with the dean. The dean just said that the police are saying they are not moving,” Byron told the other parents. 

The children were eventually let out in small groups starting around 7:15, almost two hours later than they would normally be dismissed from after-school activities.

“Now it’s gonna get dark. Now you’re going to release kids in the dark?,” one unnamed woman asked her friend angrily as the time ticked by.

Kemper told The Post that holding the kids at the school for so long was the decision of school officials.