“Not smart”: Philly man goes waaaay too far in revenge on group chat rival

Enlarge / Guys, it was just a group chat! Over fantasy football! (credit: John Lamb | Getty Images)

Philadelphia has learned its lesson the hard way: football makes people a little crazy. (Go birds!) Police here even grease downtown light poles before important games to keep rowdy fans from climbing them.

But Matthew Gabriel, 25, who lives in Philly's Mt. Airy neighborhood, took his football fanaticism to a whole 'nother level. For reasons that remain unclear, Gabriel grew incensed with a University of Iowa student who was also a member of Gabriel's fantasy football group chat.

So Gabriel did what anyone might do under such circumstances: He waited until the student went to Norway for a study abroad visit in August 2023, then contacted Norwegian investigators (Politiets Sikkerhetstjeneste) through an online "tip" form and told them that the student was planning a mass shooting. Gabriel's message read, in part: