A police general says the fatal shooting of an alleged drug suspect by an undercover cop in Bacoor, Cavite last Thursday would be investigated to determine if the law enforcement officer should be charged criminally or administratively, or both.

That probe should go without saying and should be automatic, lest the relatives of the deceased cry cover-up. In the absence of any liability, though, Corporal Carmelito Dominguez should be commended and even promoted.

Dominguez’s immediate superior pointed out that the cop showed exemplary action by being judicious and not firing indiscriminately as he chased the suspect on foot and ducked a grenade thrown at him.

This should be an open-and-shut case exculpating Dominguez as nearly everything was caught by close-circuit television cameras, including the suspect sweeping the cop off his feet and trying to wrest his gun from him.

This Christmas should be extra special for Dominguez because, as seen from the CCTV footage, he could have been killed as the suspect had him pinned with his back on the ground. 

Several times, Dominguez would say in an interview, the suspect pulled the trigger on him, but what saved him from sure death was his presence of mind to flick on the gun’s safety during those moments.

The video falls under “res ipsa loquitur,” Latin for “the thing speaks for itself.” Simply put, Dominguez found himself in a position where it was either him or the suspect getting shot.

In fact, the cop only had the briefest of moments to slip the gun between his legs as he had them around the suspect’s body. He then fired one shot that unfortunately proved fatal as it hit the suspect on the left side of the chest.

Dominguez explained that he just wanted to control the suspect so he could be arrested. He was trying to break an arm or a leg, he said, but things took a turn for the worse.

The policeman showed some grappling skills, which should bolster the push for law enforcement officers to be afforded by the government barehand fighting training like jiujitsu or the Israeli’s effective krav maga.

No doubt Dominguez would have sleepless nights as we sensed misgivings in his voice while being very thankful that there were CCTV cameras to belie any knee-jerk reactions that it was a summary “nanlaban” execution by a cop.

He would need counseling from the Philippine National Police, unlike many cops who enter and leave the service without being in life-and-death situations like the one Dominguez found himself in.

If only to learn from the incident, the PNP should determine why Dominguez’s partners — as the police do not send a lone cop to serve an arrest warrant — failed to act swiftly to intervene and pin the suspect on the ground and cuff him.

There’s no Monday morning quarterbacking here, but operational lapses should not be swept under the rug if lessons are to be derived from a touch-and-go situation.

It was also noticeable that Dominguez carried a full-size duty firearm, instead of something smaller that would have been easier to conceal and harder to take away. Gun retention is always an issue for law enforcement officers because not a few of them have been killed by criminals who wrested their guns away from them.

If we review the pistols issued by the PNP — Glock 17s, some Beretta 92 series, and Caniks — they are mostly sidearms suited for open carry as the cops are in uniform. For those doing intel or anti-drug operations, concealability is a primary consideration.

This being the case, we know of many intel and drug enforcement operatives who buy smaller pistols and even snub-nosed revolvers either as backup or deep-concealment tools for those times when to have something bulging on your waist is to have your cover blown.

LEOs, or law enforcement officers, should invest in tools that the PNP cannot provide due to budgetary constraints and include them in their PNP paperwork as privately owned secondary duty guns.

Now would be a good time for LEOs, or civilians, who have what it takes to be responsible gun owners as the 29th AFAD Defense and Sporting Arms Show is ongoing at the SMX Convention Center in Pasay City until Monday, with discounts as much as 40 percent on offer.