Bacoor policemen led by Superintendent Rodrigo Maranan (right) escorts Russel Earl Gorris, 50, an American national, shortly after his arrest following a hostage incident Monday night. (Photo by POL BRIANA, JR.)

Police arrested before dawn Tuesday an American after he held hostage his one-year-old baby son and three others inside an apartment unit in Cavite.

Russel Earl Gorris, 50, gave up to a police team peacefully after a tense five-hour negotiation at Unit B, Gess Apartment compound in Camella Homes Subdivision, Salinas, Bacoor.

Seized from Gorris was a .45-caliber pistol.

In an interview, Senior Supt. Danilo L. Maligalig, Cavite Police Provincial Office director, said that Gorris’ son Elijah Melbourne, 1; nanny Cassandra Plata, his wife Junalyn, and family friend Vanessa Tolentino were not harmed during the incident.

Gorris surrendered to Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Unit policemen and Supt. Redrico A. Maranan, Bacoor police chief, when they entered the second-floor room where the hostage took place.

A crisis management committee led by Mayor Strike B. Revllla and Supt. Josemarte Paras, Cavite Police Provincial Office (CPPO) deputy director for administration, had worked for the peaceful surrender of Gorris.

Initial investigation showed that Gorris went berserk after he failed to get a ticket for a flight back to the US last Monday.

Police officials said that boredom may have prompted Gorris to hold his son and the others in the house.