PELHAM, N.H. -- Pelham police are calling the death of a 10-year-old boy killed after a birch tree snapped and struck him Saturday evening while he was trick-or-treating with friends a "freak accident."

Officials said the boy, Christian Gualtieri, went into cardiac arrest.

He was taken to Saints Memorial Medical Center in Lowell, Mass., where he died a short time later.

Pelham Police Lt. Gary Fisher said he didn't believe there was anything anyone could have done to prevent it.

The incident happened on Fineview Circle in Pelham. A birch tree snapped off about 4 feet from its base, Pelham Fire Department officials said.

Gualtieri was trick-or-treating with a group of about 20 other children about 6:30 p.m. Saturday when he was hit by the tree branch, Fisher said.

"It was just a freak accident," said Fisher. "We had heavy winds coming through. It just started to rain, a little bit of a mist."

Fisher said the birch tree was rotting and investigators believe wind caused it to snap.

"The mood changed from total joy and silly fun and excitement to just somberness," said Robin Gotshall, who was trick-or-treating at Gualtieri's house with her children the moment that his family learned of the accident.

"The next thing we knew there was somebody just running by us top speed to alert the family," Gotshall said. "There were just police cars and fire trucks and ambulances. It was just the most horrible thing. We all had a sinking feeling in our stomach."

Gualtieri's neighbors and friends visited the site of the accident throughout the day on Sunday, leaving behind flowers and hand-written messages for his parents and older brother, who live less than a mile away from home where the accident occurred.

"He was a happy kid," said a woman who knew the 10-year-old. "He was just a beautiful child."

No further investigation is planned into the incident, police said, and no charges will be filed against the owner of the property.