PELHAM — Police last night identified a 10-year-old trick-or-treater killed Saturday evening when he was struck by a falling tree.
Christian Gualtieri was out enjoying Halloween near his home when the tree fell about 6:30 p.m. on Fineview Circle.
Pelham police said the windy weather caused the white birch tree to snap about 4 feet from its base. The boy was taken by ambulance to Saints Memorial Medical Center in Lowell, where he was pronounced dead.
Yesterday afternoon, a vase of flowers and note from neighbors sat on the stump of the fallen tree.
The note, which read "We love and miss you Christian!" was attached to the glass vase, and several bouquets of flowers and messages were left around the stump at the end of Fineview Circle.
The boy lived in the neighborhood, but not on the street where the accident occurred, police Lt. Gary Fisher said. No one else was injured.
Officials released few new details about the accident yesterday, and the family could not be reached for comment last night. Neighbors, still shaken, were reluctant to speak about the incident.
"Nobody wants to talk about it," said one neighbor, who declined to give his name. "It's been tough on all of us."
School Board Chairwoman Eleanor Burton said last night she was told Christian was not a student in the Pelham School District.
"It is my understanding that he attended a private school in Lowell," she said.
Burton also said she was unsure what principals in the district would do today to help Pelham students overcome their grief.
Although Christian did not attend Pelham schools, he was a friend and neighbor to children who live in town, she said.
"It's a very tragic thing. It is hard to imagine what the parents must be going through," she said. "You hear about these things happening somewhere else, but never in your own town."
Police did not immediately release the boy's name, saying they wanted to give the family more time after such a tragic incident.
"We want to be sure they have enough time to notify everyone that needs to be," Fisher said yesterday afternoon.
An official from the Pelham Fire Department said all questions about the accident were being directed to police.
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