One of the Chiefs fans hit with bullets at the Super Bowl parade mass shooting says the gunman opened fire in the middle of a crowd ... spinning around as he kept a finger on the trigger.

Jacob Gooch Sr., a Chiefs fan from Kansas, was among the 23 people struck by gunfire ... and he joined us on "TMZ Live" Thursday to tell us about his harrowing experience.

Jacob says someone in the crowd was telling the shooter, "Not now, this isn't the place" moments before gunshots started ringing out. He says his daughters saw the shooter pull out a gun and fire shots as he spun around in a circle.

The shooting was captured on surveillance video and Jacob says he can see himself on the ground as panic ensues and people in the crowd start running for cover.

At first, Jacob says he thought the loud noises were fireworks, not gunshots ... until he looked down and saw smoke coming out from a gunshot wound to his ankle. He also says his son was shot in the foot and his wife was shot in the leg.

Cops say the shooting does not appear to have been an act of terrorism ... instead, authorities believe a dispute between multiple groups escalated to gunfire.