I’m assuming the M-16’s the guys were carrying then were capable of 3 round burst fire. I’m not sure what the likely spread would be at range.
With that said I think this article is sh@t stirring at best. Pat wasn’t killed on purpose by his men. No way that many guys would keep something like that quiet.
No? I don't know, never been a warrior in action. And this AP report seems pretty flimsy. Regardless, over all the millennia of men fighting together in combat, I'll bet there were plenty of times when men felt compelled to dispatch an inept (so potentially dangerous) officer, and did. War combat isn't a game.