Authorities are searching communities in West Virginia's western Panhandle, western Pennsylvania and eastern Ohio for a man who shot and seriously wounded the lone worker in a U.S. Post Office near Moundsville, W.Va. this afternoon.

Todd Dolin, 38, is being sought in the shooting of Lua Wolverton at the post office in Dallas, W.Va., a small town of about 300 people about eight miles southeast of Interstate 70's Dallas Pike exit, according to the Marshall County Sheriff's Department in Moundsville. Mr. Dolin, who lives about 12 miles from Moundsville in the rural community of Glen Easton, W.Va., may be armed and should be considered dangerous, Sheriff's Cpl. John Pelley said.

The shooting appears to be the result of a domestic dispute, Cpl. Pelley said, but he did not know if Mr. Dolin and Ms. Wolverton live together or what triggered the dispute. He said Mr. Dolin came to the post office where Ms. Wolverton works, pulled out a shotgun and shot her twice in the abdomen at 2:23 p.m.

"They've had a longtime relationship. They're a couple,'' Cpl. Pelley said. "He came in and just shot her, as far as I know.''

Mr. Dolin drove away in a burgundy Dodge Dakota quad cab pickup truck bearing West Virginia license plate number V 6U1184. He dropped and left the shotgun at the post office and also abandoned his cell phone, which state police later recovered.

Investigators don't know if he has other weapons with him, Cpl. Pelley said.

"Right now we have a number of [officers] out searching for him, but we've had no contact with him,'' he said. "We're scouring Marshall County and we're putting out information [to law enforcement agencies in neighboring] western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio and all over the Panhandle."

Ms. Wolverton was flown by medical helicopter to Ruby Memorial Hospital in Morgantown, W.Va., where she underwent surgery. Cpl. Pelley said investigators have been told she is in stable condition.

Mr. Dolin is white, stand 5 feet 11 inches tall, weighs 220 pounds and has red hair. He may be headed to a camp he owns near Seneca Lake in Senecaville, Ohio, Cpl. Pelley said.

The shooting is being investigated by West Virginia State Police and the U.S. Postal Service.