The Moment TinMan Bassist Bill Weir Realized There Was a Shooting While They Were Playing at Garlic Festival

"I mean, you know it when you hear it," Weir said.

The band TinMan was on stage Sunday at the garlic festival in California when a gunman opened fire, and now the musicians are opening up about what happened. 

Bill Weir plays bass guitar in the band, and he told Inside Edition that the shooter, 19-year-old Santino Legan, was just 100 feet away.

“We heard automatic gunfire. ... I mean, you know it when you hear it,” he said. 

As the spectators fled, band members took cover under the stage. 

“There was a thin black skirt hiding us from the shooter but the breeze was catching it and flipping the bottom of it up. That scared me — 'If he sees us, we're sitting ducks,'” he said. 

He says the gunman fired first at a food tent. From their hiding place, the band could hear the cries of the wounded and even smell the gun smoke.

“People were screaming and yelling. There was a policeman. I can tell by his voice, very authoritative voice, ‘I have wounded. I have wounded. Medic!’” Weir recalled. 

But not long after he started shooting, the killer was dead. 

“The police did an absolutely fantastic job,” Weir said. “If they hadn’t have gotten there that fast there's no doubt in my mind that guy would have killed many more people.” 

The band members, food vendors and many festivalgoers were forced to leave their belongings behind on the festival site. 

Meanwhile, more details are emerging about the three people who were killed

Stephen Romero, 6, was shot in the back moments after playing on an inflatable bounce house.  

Keyla Salazar, 13, helped an elderly family member to safety and was killed. 

Trevor Irby, 25, was with his girlfriend, Sarah, at the festival when he was killed. 

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