Royalton Man Gets 11 Years After Shooting 2 During Farm Dispute

Oct 9

A Royalton man who shot two people during a fight at a Benton County farm last fall has been sentenced to more than 11 years in prison.

According to court records, 24-year-old Ismael Vasquez Santos was convicted of two counts of first-degree assault for shooting two men at properties along 95th Avenue Northeast in Gilmanton Township on Oct. 13, 2024.

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Deputies arrived around 4:45 p.m. to find one victim lying in a yard with a gunshot wound to the right side of his neck. The man, who spoke Spanish, told investigators that “Ismael” shot him. He motioned with his hand in the shape of a gun toward the back of his head to show how it happened.

Officers soon found Vasquez Santos at a nearby farm on 95th Avenue, where another man was clutching his stomach with what appeared to be a gunshot wound. That victim also identified Vasquez Santos as the shooter. Both victims were taken to Saint Cloud Hospital, where doctors found bullets or fragments lodged in each man’s body. One victim underwent surgery for a bullet in his neck, the other for a stomach wound.

Deputies noted Vasquez Santos smelled strongly of alcohol and registered a 0.133 blood-alcohol concentration on a preliminary breath test. A deputy wrote that open containers were found in the barn where Vasquez Santos and one of the victims lived and worked.

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Witnesses, including one victim’s daughter who used a translation app to communicate, told investigators that her father said he had been shot by Vasquez Santos. At the hospital, one of the victims told deputies he was shot while trying to protect someone.

Vasquez Santos was arrested at the scene and charged with two counts each of first- and second-degree assault. The second-degree counts were later dismissed.

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On Wednesday, a judge sentenced Vasquez Santos to concurrent prison terms of 86 months and 132 months. He received credit for 360 days already served and was ordered to provide a DNA sample, pay restitution within 60 days and comply with a lifetime ban on possessing firearms.

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