The ex-boyfriend of a New Hanover County detention officer was charged with first-degree murder Wednesday, hours after she was found shot outside her home, authorities said.

Authorities continued searching Wednesday for Anthony Antwand Bowen, 30, in the death of Tarica Ann Pulliam, 27, said sheriff's office spokesman 1st Sgt. Tim Fuss.

Authorities believe Bowen approached Pulliam and shot her several times before fleeing Wednesday morning, Fuss said.

Pulliam was taken to New Hanover Regional Medical Center but later died. She had worked for the sheriff's office for two years, Fuss said. She leaves behind a 7-year-old daughter.

Public records show both Bowen and Pulliam had lived in the same Wilmington apartment until April. On April 1, Pulliam said in an affidavit for a domestic violence protective order, Bowen choked her until she nearly lost consciousness, then punched her in her left jaw.

"He then stated that he was going to finish what he started," she wrote in April. "He said that he was going to get his gun. As he reached in the closet, my mother knocked on the front door."

He was charged with assault on a female, second-degree kidnapping and assault by strangulation for the incident. He was also charged with first-degree kidnapping in a case involving another woman from an incident a few days later.

When reached Wednesday, Pulliam's family members declined to speak with reporters.

Fuss said the most recent address for Bowen is a trailer in Leland where his mother lives. From the home in Leland, Bowen's mother said she didn't know where her son had gone.

Earlier in the day, authorities from the sheriff's office and the Wilmington Police Department scoured a subdivision and several cars in the area of Gordon Road for Bowen.

Authorities said Bowen is considered armed and dangerous. He was last seen driving a silver Ford Taurus with the license plate number VYE3086.