HOLLAND, MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Nov. 8, 2023) – The identity of a 33-year-old Holland woman who lost her life in what the Department of Public Safety Police Services is calling a homicide on Monday evening has been disclosed, but the person wanted in questioning remained at large at midweek.
According to Captain of Administrative Services Bob Buursma, officers were dispatched to the area of Michigan Avenue and West 22nd Street just after 8 PM on a report of shorts fired. Shortly after that, nearby Holland Hospital reported that two persons had been admitted into its emergency room with gun shot wounds.
On Wednesday, Buursma identified the victim as Cassandra Casares. She expired from her wounds at the hospital, while the other victim, a 34-year-old Holland man whose name has yet to be publicly disclosed, was taken to Corewell-Butterworth Hospital in Grand Rapids, where he remained at midweek in stable condition. The captain added that investigators believed the vehicle in which Casares was in had stopped in the parking lot of Moran Park Church alongside another vehicle. That was where the gunfire ensued, and while her vehicle drove off to Holland Hospital, the suspect vehicle sped off into the night. The search continues for what is described as a heavy-set, dark-complexioned Hispanic man around 40 years old, wearing all black clothing at the time, for questioning.
Anyone with any information on the matter is asked to contact the Holland Department of Public Safety (616-355-1150) or Ottawa County Silent Observer (877-887-4536).
