The police said that Brenton Clarke, 36, of Long Island, N.Y., used a metal rod and a wooden stick to attack four homeless people in what they said was an unprovoked assault.

A man wielding a stick killed two people in Miami in an “unprovoked” attack on four homeless people, law enforcement officials said. The suspect was taken into custody following the beatings, which police say were carried out early Thursday.

At about 5:45 a.m., Miami Police officers responded to reports of a man armed with a stick assaulting people around North Miami Avenue and Northwest Sixth Street. The man, later identified as Brenton Clarke, 36, was arrested after a brief foot chase.

The man is accused of attacking four people experiencing homelessness in Downtown Miami early Thursday morning, killing two of them.