Texas mass shooting survivor says a store employee who was killed saved her and 12 others by hiding them in a bathroom closet

• Nine people died in a mass shooting at a Texas mall on Saturday, including the gunman.
• A survivor described being saved by a store employee who hid her and 12 others in a bathroom closet.

A survivor of the Texas mass shooting at a mall on Saturday said that she and 12 others were saved by an employee who was later killed.

Racquel Lee, a mother of two, told CBS News Texas she was shopping at the Allen Premium Outlets mall when the gunman began shooting.

"It sounded like a war zone," Lee told the outlet. "It was horrifying and it felt like you were in a dream, like, just shock."

Lee said that an employee gathered her and 12 others and hid them inside a store's bathroom closet.

"We were just in the closet trying not to be heard crying, praying, people were trying to call 911, we couldn't dial out," Lee said.

"I just remember thinking, 'oh god, he's coming in here next.' I was crouching down like 'I hope we don't get hit by a bullet," a visibly emotional Lee told the outlet.

"The store associate saved our lives," she said.

The shooting left nine people dead, including the gunman and the store worker.

Lee shared videos of the group sheltering in the bathroom with CBS. Some members of the group, which included children, look afraid and can be seen trying to make phone calls.

The final clip shows the group being led out of the room, holding their hands up.

Lee said the group walked over "bullets and bodies" as they left the mall — including the body of the store employee who had saved them.

Authorities are currently investigating whether the shooter had white-supremacist or neo-Nazi beliefs, following reports that he wore a patch on his chest that said "RWDS," an acronym for Right Wing Death Squad, The Washington Post reported.