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BUFFALO, New York (CNN) -- Suspected cop killer Ralph "Buck" Phillips appeared in court Saturday, the day after his capture ended a five-month manhunt.
Phillips was charged in Chemung County, New York, with eight counts, including attempted aggravated murder, first-degree attempted murder and second-degree attempted murder, all in connection with the shooting of a state trooper in June, according to The Associated Press.
Phillips did not enter a plea.
Earlier Saturday, the 44-year-old looked exhausted and unshaven during a four-minute hearing in Buffalo, New York, AP said.
He spoke little, answering "yes" when asked if he was Ralph Phillips and also if he had received a copy of the federal complaint charging him with unlawful flight to avoid prosecution, AP reported.
The federal judge in Buffalo dropped that charge, allowing Phillips to be turned over to state authorities to face the more serious charges, U.S. Attorney Terry Flynn said.
Flynn said it was normal procedure. "It does not in any manner jeopardize our right under federal law to proceed with other more significant federal charges at a later time," he said, without elaborating.
Suspect in state trooper shootings
Phillips is expected to face additional charges in Chautauqua County, New York.
Phillips is suspected of shooting state Trooper Sean Brown during a traffic stop near Elmira, New York, on June 10, and also is wanted for questioning in the August 31 shooting death of Trooper Joseph Longobardo, 32.
Longobardo's colleague, Trooper Donald Baker, 38, was also shot, and remained in critical condition. Brown is still recovering.
No gunfire was exchanged when Phillips was caught Friday near Akeley, Pennsylvania, near the New York border, according to Warren County, Pennsylvania, officials. Akeley is 10 miles southeast of Jamestown, New York.
"We have a lot of work still left to do," Bennett said. "We have a lot of firearms that are not accounted for."
Phillips is believed to have stolen more than 40 guns and rifles from a sports shop. Authorities found some of the weapons at a house in Pennsylvania, where police believe he stayed while on the run.
Additional arrests are expected, he said, as police continue to investigate anyone who may have helped Phillips since his escape from jail in April.
Former fugitive used can opener to escape jail
Phillips broke out of the Erie County Correctional Facility in Alden, New York, by prying open a roof vent in the jail's kitchen area with an industrial can opener. The FBI said he was being held at the facility"on a minor parole violation and was scheduled to be released within a week."
Bennett said he was pleased that Phillips was taken alive to face charges.
Video footage of the arrest showed him in the back of a police car accompanied by three officers. Onlookers cheered and took pictures as it passed.
Their response was music to police officers' ears, Bennett said. "You have no idea how that makes us feel," he said. "The bottom line is, the good guys won here. We're the good guys. He's the bad guy."
Bennett said he had no information whether the placement of Phillips on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted List Thursday expedited his arrest, but it may have prevented Phillips from going elsewhere.
Phillips was being held in U.S. marshals' custody at the Erie County Holding Center in Buffalo, a pre-trial maximum-security facility.
Stolen cars provide lead
The search for Phillips heightened just before 2 a.m. Friday after a Warren County, Pennsylvania, sheriff's deputy pursued a car believed to be stolen, said Bennett. The car crashed into a tree and the driver ran away, Bennett said.
About 25 minutes later, another car was reported stolen. As two troopers chased the car, it crossed into New York, where the driver jumped from the moving vehicle and fled into the woods.
A backpack containing camouflage clothing was found inside the first car, as well as a hat that appears to match the one Phillips was pictured wearing in a wanted poster, two federal law enforcement sources said.
About 9 a.m., a trooper with a dog encountered a man in the woods he believed to be Phillips, Bennett said.
The man allegedly waved a pistol toward the trooper, who fired several shots, Bennett said. The trooper was uninjured, and there was no blood to suggest the fleeing man had been hit, he said.
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