Store Employee Hid Shoppers In Closet During Texas Mall Massacre, Survivor Reportedly Claims

A woman who survived the mass shooting that took place at a Texas mall on May 6 has reportedly revealed that she and a dozen other shoppers managed to walk out of the place alive because of a store employee.

Racquel Lee, a mother of two, said she had made an impromptu shopping trip to the Allen Premium Outlets in Allen when the "spraying" of gunfire began.

"It sounded like a war zone," she told CBS News. "It was horrifying and it felt like you were in a dream."

Lee said she looked out the window and saw a woman getting "gunned down."

"All of us were just paralyzed," she said, according to ABC News. "I just remember crouching down. ... There was nowhere to run in the store."

"I remember thinking that he's coming in here next, and I was hoping we didn't get hit by a bullet," Lee recalled, as reported by the New York Post. "Then the store associate saved our lives."

The female store associate quickly led her and 12 other shoppers to a bathroom closet. The terrified group then huddled together in the bathroom closet, "trying not [to] be heard, crying, praying," Lee added, as per the outlet.

Lee said they tried to call 911 or reach out to their loved ones.

"Everyone's trying to call 911," she told ABC News. "No one could dial out and so I connect to WiFi from a store nearby, and I FaceTimed my husband at like 3:40 [p.m.] and I tried to text my family. And I said 'Please, I love you. I hope you get this.'"

The group spent about 90 minutes hiding inside the bathroom closet while the gunman, identified as Mauricio Garcia, unleashed a volley of gunshots and claimed a total of eight victims. About seven others were injured.

"Every shot, you're just, like, twitching. And I start crying, and someone's petting my back. Then they start crying, I'm petting their back," Lee continued. "It didn't matter what nationality, race, religion, color person you were. It was just everyone ... everyone just collectively being in this moment together."

Law enforcement officials eventually finally found the group and asked them to step out of the bathroom closet with their hands up. It was then that Lee saw the aftermath of the massacre around her.

"You just see bodies, bags, blood, bullets," she added. "It felt like a war zone. ... I can't unsee it."

Lee believes she saw one body that appeared to belong to the store employee. However, reports have not identified a female store employee as one of the victims killed.

"I'm really trying to find the store associate's family. I'm thinking about how she saved — that's the part that really upsets me, that I don't know if she's alive," Lee said further.