A Massachusetts College of Art student faces a list charges after Boston Police investigating a BB gun discharge discovered a stash of marijuana and ecstasy in his apartment earlier this month, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said.

NICHOLAS FORD (D.O.B. 9/15/88) of Allston was arraigned May 6 in Brighton District Court for possession of Class B and Class D substances with intent to distribute, unlawful discharge of a BB gun, and two counts of malicious destruction of property over $250. Judge David T. Donnelly set bail at $2500.

Boston Police in the area of Harvard and Commonwealth avenues heard something strike the roof of their cruiser just before 1:30 a.m. on May 6. The officers also saw a group of people near 180 Harvard Ave. ducking and taking cover as if hiding from something. A storefront window at that address was later found to be cracked. The officers scanned the area and saw a man in a second floor window racking back the slide of what appeared to be a semiautomatic handgun. As the officers drew their service weapons, the man ducked behind a red curtain.

The officers called for assistance and made their way into 183 Harvard Ave. They knocked on the doors of two street-facing apartments and spoke to one occupant; that occupant’s apartment did not have red curtains. The occupant of the other apartment did not answer.

At about the same time, additional officers responded to the scene and saw the man in the window fire another shot, cracking the windshield of a nearby window. That officer notified his colleagues inside the building of what happened, and they began to bang on the door with greater urgency until the occupant – later identified as Ford – came to the door and asked, “What do you guys want?”

Behind him, the officers could see a red curtain over the window. They could also detect the strong smell of marijuana coming from inside.

After advising Ford of his Miranda rights, the officers asked him what he was doing.

“Being stupid,” he allegedly responded.

“That’s an accurate assessment,” Conley said. “It was incredibly stupid.”

The officers asked where the gun was, and Ford allegedly directed them to a chest of drawers. In one of those drawers, they observed a pill bottle with a brown rock-like substance in smaller plastic bags; in the second drawer, they recovered a Crosman C21 air pistol.

On the floor, the officers saw an open backpack with a box of sandwich bags visible inside and the odor of marijuana coming from it. Ford allegedly acknowledged ownership of the bag.

The officers called for assistance from an MBTA Transit Police K-9 unit. When the dog and handler arrived, the dog hit on several locations within the apartment. Ford was taken into custody and the apartment was seized pending the execution of a search warrant.

During the booking process, Ford allegedly stated that he’d been selling drugs for five to eight months.

The rock-like substance in Ford’s drawer is believed to be MDMA, more commonly known as ecstasy. A search of the apartment led to the recovery of more than a dozen bags and jars of marijuana, including one bag labeled “Sour Diesel;” a food sealer; eight sandwich bags containing seeds; $7,860 in cash; a grey cash box; and a hollowed out book containing a key.

Ford will return to court on May 25.