Early on Friday, Christopher Duran, 14, left his home on a Bronx street lined with brick apartment buildings and dotted with trees. He made a stop at a nearby laundromat and then, his family said, he headed off to school, walking with his younger brother and a friend.

Suddenly, at about 8:30 a.m., a gunman approached Christopher and shot him in the face, a law enforcement official said. His brother and his friend dove under cars, waiting for the shooting to end, his relatives said. Christopher was on the pavement, with three other gunshot wounds to the abdomen. Two assailants were seen leaving the scene.

By the time paramedics arrived, the authorities said, Christopher was already dead.

Investigators believe the teenager was the intended target of the brazen morning attack on Sheridan Avenue, near East 167th Street. One senior police official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the ongoing investigation, called it a “directed shooting.” But the police were still trying to piece together what prompted the attack. It could have been gang-related, the police said, and might have involved a dispute between rival groups.

Image Christopher Duran, pictured when he was 13.

In the hours after the shooting, Christopher’s family and their friends gathered on the street, sobbing and embracing each other. His brother was still in shock, relatives said. His mother sat outside on a plastic crate, bawling.