NEW YORK -- An underground movie actress shot and critically wounded pop artist pioneer Andy Warhol in the stomach in his soundproof office Monday and also injured an art dealer.
Another underground actress said she was talking to Warhol, 41, on the telephone at the time of the assault and heard the shots.
Warhol, known for his soup can paintings and underground movies, underwent surgery at Columbia Hospital. Mario Amaya of London, the art dealer, was treated for a back wound and released.
Police said they were searching for Valerie Solanas, 28, a thin, short actress, for questioning.
Amaya carried his bloody shirt and wore a bandage on his back and right arm as he walked into a hospital waiting room where Warhol's mother was crying and speaking softly to herself in a Slavic language.
The art dealer said he and Warhol were standing in the office when the woman entered.
"She stood very quietly while we were introduced," Amaya said. He said he then looked away.
"When I first heard the gunfire I thought it was coming in through the window," Amaya said. "Then I noticed a revolver like one of those guns you see in Dick Tracy in her hand. She was going at him full blazes."
Amaya said Warhol called her by her name and shouted" "Oh, NO!" Then the woman turned the gun toward Amaya. He ducked but the bullet struck him in the back, barely missing his spine, Amaya said.