Suspect Released from Hospital, Booked
Booking records indicate Sonny Francis Conto, 29, of Philadelphia, PA was released from the hospital and booked into the Coweta County Jail on November 18th, 2025.
Additional details regarding his booking can be found following the summary of the incident below.
Newnan Police Department Officer Involved Shooting
Statement Released by Newnan Police Department
The following statement was released by the Newnan Police Department at 10 AM the morning of November 15th, 2025 regarding an Officer Involved Shooting (OIS) that occurred just hours before.
“This morning, at approximately 08:33 a.m., an officer-involved shooting occurred at 997 Bullsboro Drive. Emergency medical services were immediately dispatched to the scene. The injured male, 29, whose identity is not currently being released, was transported to an Atlanta area hospital, where he is expected to recover from his non-life threatening injuries. An investigation is underway and will be conducted by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. This is an active investigation and further details will be released as they become available. “
Statement Released by Georgia Bureau of Investigation
The following statement was released by the Georgia Bureau of Investigation ( GBI ) on the afternoon of November 15th, 2025.
” At the request of the Newnan Police Department, GBI agents are investigating an officer involved shooting in Newnan, GA. Sonny Francis Conto, age 29, from Glassboro, New Jersey, was shot during the incident and suffered non-life-threatening injuries. One police officer also sustained non-life-threatening injuries during the shooting. The officer was treated at a local hospital and later discharged.
The preliminary information indicates that on Saturday, November 15, 2025, at about 8:30 a.m., officers from the Newnan Police Department responded to a 911 hang-up call in the 900 block of Bullsboro Drive. When officers arrived, they found Conto standing on the steps of a semi-truck, yelling at the driver who was inside the vehicle.The officers instructed Conto to step down from the truck, but he refused to comply. When one of the officers attempted to assist Conto down from the steps, he resisted, resulting in a struggle. During the altercation, Conto called for his dog from a nearby van and attempted to grab the officer’s weapon. The dog got out of the van and moved toward the officer and Conto.
A second officer, who saw the struggle, ordered Conto to stop resisting. However, Conto continued to fight with the first officer over the firearm. In response to the escalating situation, the second officer fired their weapon, hitting Conto in the arm.
After being shot, Conto attempted to run from the scene but was subsequently taken into custody. Conto was taken by ambulance to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, GA, where he was treated for injuries sustained during the shooting.
Conto was arrested and charged with obstruction and attempted removal of a firearm from a public official. Conto will be booked into the Coweta County Jail after being discharged from the hospital.
This investigation is active and ongoing. Anyone with information is encouraged to contact the GBI Regional Office in Columbus at (706) 565-7888. Anonymous tips can also be submitted by calling 1-800-597-TIPS (8477), online at https://gbi.georgia.gov/submit-tips-online, or by downloading the See Something, Send Something mobile app.
The GBI will conduct an independent investigation. Once complete, the case will be given to the Coweta Judicial Circuit District Attorney’s Office for review.”
Sonny Francis Conto, 29, of Philadelphia, PA Arrested and Booked
Sonny Francis Conto, 29, of Philadelphia, PA was arrested on the scene of the OIS and transferred to Grady Memorial Hospital where he remained in custody while being treated. On November 18th, 2025 he was released from Grady and transported to the Coweta County Jail where he was booked by the GBI on the following charges.
- Willful Obstruction of Law Enforcement Officers by use of Threats or Actual Physical Violence (F)
- Removal or Attempted Removal of Weapon from Public Official (F)
He remains in custody after being denied bond by a presiding Magistrate Judge.
If found guilty, and barring certain modifiers that could come into play, Conto faces no less than 1 and no more than 5 years in jail on each of the two charges.
Recent Legal Troubles in PA, NJ
Records from jurisdictions in both PA and NJ show that Conto has had a rough year. In April records indicate that his residence in Glassboro, NJ had a lien placed on it for delinquent tax payments, which seems to have resulted in it’s sale.
Leading up to that, records indicate that Conto was jailed in for several months due to a series of probation violations stemming from a 2017 arrest in the Philadelphia area which is just over the Delaware river from the Glassboro, NJ location.
Post tax issues in late April court records in NJ Superior Court shows that Conto initiated a pro-se tort complaint against two local police departments, one against Gloucester County, NJ and another against Camden County, NJ.
The suites seem to center around an incident that occurred August 11th, 2024 in which Conto states started when he flagged down an officer to report someone chasing him. Things then quickly go off the rails and take a turn towards secret notes, drones, collusion with his then girl friend all of which resulted in a search warrant being executed at his house.
Records show that as late as August 20th of this year Conto was lodging complaints against individual officers he believed to be spying on or stalking him and his house.
Court records show that after his initial filing of these cases, his first action was to request the court find him indigent to waive the filing fees. This was denied in both cases. In the Gloucester County case the county responded to the complaint asking the Judge to dismiss it, which he quickly did. The Camden case seems to have died on the vine as even after sending multiple letters stating he’d get the $50 filing fee to the court, it never seems to have made it and the case was never given a court date due to that issue.
The Dog and the Neighbor
Civil court records in Gloucester County, NJ show that on or around March of 2024 a civil lawsuit for personal injury was filed against Conto alleging that his dog, a pit bull named ” Tank ” entered his neighbors back yard and bit them causing personal injury. Records indicate that the case was voluntarily withdrawn by all parties after what seems to have been a payout by Conto’s insurance carrier.
In the GBI’s statement regarding the NPD OIS, they state that during Conto’s initial fight with the NPD officer he ” called for his Dog from his nearby van, which advanced on officers. “
It’s unknown if the dog in Conto’s possession at the time of the OIS is the same dog referenced in the civil case, however it does show a pattern of keeping knowing dangerous animals and could be the basis of further charges as the investigation continues.
‘The Bronco’, Sonny From South 9th Street, Philly’s next Rocky Balboa
Interestingly, Conto is known well in Philly and in the Pro Boxing World where until a fall off in the past few years, he was considered a serious up and coming heavy weight fighter.
After some research it appears that Conto was quite a successful athlete in high school where he excelled in both Baseball and Boxing. He would take his pitching skills with him to Rowan College, even reaching the 2015 NJCAA Division III World Series.
Conto was involved in an accident that required surgery and left him with scars on his lower back. The injuries, according to him, left him unable to ” come off the mound and field balls. “
According to Frank Conto, Sonny’s father and boxing trainer, this resulted in Sonny’s pivot to boxing where he started making a name for himself as an amateur heavyweight where he had a record of 40-2 and even won a pair of Golden Gloves Championships.
After turning Pro in early 2019, he won his first 3 fights within minutes. As of his last fight on June 14th, 2024 he is undefeated as a Pro Boxer with a 13 win, 0 loss, 0 draw record.
The boxing community had no reservation calling Conto a generational Heavyweight Prospect… and then he seems to have fallen off the map. A search shows boxing forums across the internet littered with ” What happened to Sonny Conto ” post that remain unanswered.
The only dots I can find to connect after hours and hours of research is the short period of time that spans his June 2024 fight and the Aug 2024 incident that started his battle with the local cops. By his own admission, he flagged down the officer that night to report ” someone following him. ” I can tell you from experience that this area of NJ and Philly are not for the weak and have found many too deep into something to get out while they could.
It will be interesting to see if his fighting skills become a point of discussion or focus in any potential trial regarding the OIS incident. I’ve seen MMA fighters and other professional fighters have enhanced charges and sentences as the result of fighting other untrained individuals. It will be interesting to see if given his skills and training, if choosing to fight an officer changes that equation.
