A surviving victim of the recent Texas mall shooting has recalled how a worker at the store hid people in a bathroom before sadly losing their own life during the tragedy.
Mom-of-two Racquel Lee revealed that she and 12 others were ushered inside of a bathroom and protected after a sales associate heard the sound of gunfire ringing throughout the outlet mall on Sunday.
Mauricio Garcia, 33, opened fire outside the Allen Premium Outlets killing eight people and injuring a further seven before he was shot dead by local authorities, per CBS News Texas.
Allen Police Chief Brian Harvey said that a police officer who just happened to be at the mall on an unrelated call fatally shot him at approximately 3:30PM.
It was also reported that the shooter had five other weapons inside his vehicle at the time.
While the motives of the shooter have not yet been confirmed, it was reported by the Washington Post that officials are conducting an extensive investigation into the possible radicalization of Garcia as he was discovered wearing a patch on his chest that read RWDS, which stands for Right Wing Death Squad.
Anonymous sources that are part of the investigation disclosed to the outlet that the phrase is "popular among right-wing extremists, neo-Nazis, and white supremacists" thus prompting them to brand the shooting as a possible hate crime.
In the wake of the tragedy, victims that survived the horrific ordeal have recalled their experiences.
Lee, who was locked inside a bathroom in the building along with 12 others, told CBS News Texas that the noises she heard were similar to that of a "war zone".
"It sounded like a war zone," she told the news outlet. "It was horrifying and it felt like you were in a dream. Like, just shock."
At the time, Lee was also videoing the entire experience, later posting the footage online.
"We were in a bathroom closet, and we were just in the closet trying not be heard, crying, praying — people were trying to call 911. We couldn’t dial out," she continued.
"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,'" Lee added, before stating that "the store associate saved our lives."
After the victims were rescued by police and led away from the scene, Lee noticed the body of the sales associate lying on the floor covered in blood - a heartbreaking moment for her and the other survivors.
As per a report by the New York Post, so far, only two of the eight dead victims have been identified.
One was 20-year-old Christian LaCour, a security guard from the area and the second was Aishwarya Thatikonda, an engineer from India who was living and working in Texas.
Authorities are hoping to identify the remaining bodies and notify families in the coming days.
Our thoughts are with the all victims' loved ones during this incredibly difficult time.
