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.

MIAMI - An arrest has been made in the unprovoked attacks on the homeless in Downtown Miami that left two dead. Brenton Clarke, 36, has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder, two counts of attempted first-degree murder and armed robbery with a deadly weapon.

The head of the county’s homeless agency is calling on law enforcement to investigate the attacks as a hate crime.