It was a hostage situation that gripped Poughkeepsie residents for hours, as many could not get into their homes on Tuesday. Our Eva McKend has more on how the dangerous situation finally came to an end.

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POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- Tensions ran high at a hostage situation in Poughkeepsie. Police say a man stabbed two women and held himself inside a house with a 5-year-old on Manitou Avenue for several hours.

Throughout the day, a woman believed to be his mother pled with police to speak to her son.

"What I don’t understand is why I haven’t been able to go in and talk to him yet. This situation would be over if they let me go in and talk to my son. That’s all I want," said Doreen Flowers.

"The problem with that is we don’t control that conversation. She says something that sets him off. It’s a bad thing. We know what we are going to say, we don’t what a family member is going to say," said City of Poughkeepsie Police Chief Ron Knapp.

After more than seven hours, the man surrendered. The five-year-old child exited the house unharmed to the relief of many on the outside.

"I’m so glad everything worked out like it did. They got out safely and everybody’s going home. It’s just a wonderful thing to see," said John Flowers.

"He’s safe that was my biggest concern, I’m happy. I’m happy," said Antoinette Clarke.

Police say even though the man only had a knife, in hostage situations, they only use extreme force when absolutely necessary.

"If he had taken the child and stabbed that child or stabbed himself because we did not’t want to wait, would that have been the right thing to do? It might not be as quick as everybody wants but in the end, nobody gets hurt," said Knapp.

Officers are not identifying the man at this time, and they're not saying just yet what charges he's facing. Police say the two stabbing victims do not have life threatening injuries.