PA man pleads guilty to making false bomb, mass shooting threats over fantasy football

Philadelphia, PA ( WJET/WFXP )– Fantasy football is something fans look forward to every NFL season and group chats with friends in the league can make it more fun, but one Pennsylvania man took it too far and has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a false international mass shooting threat and false domestic bomb threat.

United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania Jacqueline C. Romero announced Matthew Gabriel, 25, of Philadelphia pleaded guilty to two counts of interstate and foreign communication of a threat to injure in federal court on September 19.

The threats stemmed from a fantasy football group chat Gabriel was in with a member of the league who was going to study abroad in Norway in August 2025.

According to the plea agreement, this led to a disagreement between the friends, and on Aug. 3, Gabriel allegedly submitted a tip to the Norwegian Police Security Service, or Politiets Sikkerhetstjeneste (“PST”), while in the Eastern District of PA saying the league mate was going meet with a group of people in the country and carry out a mass shooting. The tip reads as follows:

On August 15th a man named [Victim 1] is headed around oslo and has a shooting planned with multiple people on his side involved. they plan to take as many as they can at a concert and then head to a department store. I don’t know any more people then that, I just can’t have random people dying on my conscience. he plans to arrive there unarmed spend a couple days normal and then execute the attack. please be ready. he is around a 5 foot 7 read head coming from America, on the 10th or 11th I believe. he should have weapons with him. please be careful

This caused a large international investigation between the PST and the FBI lasting hundreds of man-hours and spanning five days, which investigators said ended in Gabriel admitting the tip was false.

Gabriel also pleaded guilty to a second threat that happened on March 22 of this year emailing the University of Iowa with the subject line reading “Possible Threat” with a screenshot from the group chat that said a suspected Nebraska man was going to blow up the school. The email read:

Hello, I saw this in a group chat I’m in and just want to make sure everyone is safe and fine. I don’t want anything bad to happen to any body. Thank you. A man named [PERSON 1] from I believe Nebraska sent this, and I want to make sure that it is a joke and no one will get hurt.

“While already being prosecuted for one hoax threat spurred by, of all things, his fantasy football league, Matthew Gabriel inexplicably decided to send another,” said U.S. Attorney Romero. “His actions were extremely disruptive and consumed significant law enforcement resources on two continents, diverting them from actual incidents and investigations. Hoax threats aren’t a joke or protected speech, they’re a crime. My advice to keyboard warriors who’d like to avoid federal charges: always think of the potential consequences before you hit ‘post’ or ‘send.’”

Prosecutors said Gabriel knew the person he named was not going to blow up the school and that the message sent in the group chat was a joke about Gabriel’s prior incident but still knew the school would take the message seriously despite there being no threat.

“You do not get to express emotions through violence or threats of violence,” said Wayne A. Jacobs, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Philadelphia. “We thank our international partners for their assistance in bringing together this case. The FBI will continue to work alongside partners at all levels to protect our community.”

Gabriel now faces up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release, a $250,000 fine, and a $100 special assessment.

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