This episode marks the final appearance of Craig Sheffer (Keith Scott) until his guest appearance in "Songs to Love And Die By".

Barbara Alyn Woods (Deb Scott) does not appear in this episode.

Ratings: 3.6 million viewers, making this the highest viewed episode in season 3.

This episode did not feature the typical opening credits sequence.

This is the only One Tree Hill episode to feature a parental discretion advisory.

Lucas: (voiceover) Does this darkness have a name? This cruelty, this hatred. How did it find us? Did it steal into our lives or did we seek it out and embrace it? What happened to us, that we now send our children into the world like we send young men to war? Hoping for their safe return, but knowing that some will be lost along the way. When did we lose our way? Consumed by the shadows, swallowed whole by the darkness. Does this darkness have a name? Is it your name?

Lucas: Is she shot?

Jimmy Edwards: So you wanna know what it's like in my high school... Well the truth is, there's not a single person in this place worth remembering. People here are fake, so they stick to their clicks to hide it. The stoners are medicated, the honour students are afraid, and the jocks... they're jocks, man! They'll peak at 17 and their cheerleader girlfriends will be fat and lonely by 21. Losers! Everyone here is a loser. The truth is, everyday I have to come to this school, is one less day I have to come back. Here we go.

Marcus You don't think a locked door is gonna tell whatever psycho is out there that we're in here?
Jimmy: Why would you call them psycho?
Marcus: Something to do with them trying to kill us all, fat ass.

Lucas: Nathan...
Nathan: Yeah... you too, man.

Mouth: I was in the A/V room and I come out and it's like Dawn of the Dead.
Nathan: Mouth, don't say dead. Someone's got a gun in the school.
Mouth: What!? We gotta get out of here.
Nathan: Yeah, you gotta get out of here. I gotta go get Haley.
(Mouth looks down and sees Nathan holding a baseball bat)
Mouth: I'll stay with you.

Rachel: Don't do that. Don't make him feel guilty for living his life. This is not his fault - this is YOUR fault!

Jimmy Edwards: Besides, even if you get past me, the others will get you.
Haley: Are there others, Jim?
Nathan: No, no, no... I was out there. It's just you.
Jimmy Edwards: You think so? You really think I'm the only one? Then ask yourself this. You ever treat someone like crap in this school or left anyone out? You ever broken up with someone in the time it takes to pass a note and disappear? Or talk trash behind their back? Or maybe you just ignored it all... you know, while you worry about the big game, or the prom, or the bake sale for the pep club. You ask yourselves that and then you tell me, is anyone else out there.

Abby: What's wrong with you? He's just a kid. We're all just kids and we just have this life, and the things you say and do, we feel that. How can you have so much hate in your heart? How can you act like it doesn't matter? It does matter. What happened to us, huh? We're just kids, we can't be like this. It's not possible.
Rachel: It's 700 days, highschool. Out of 20 or 30 thousand. Can't you see past that? It's only 700 days.

Peyton: We had a snow day, sixth grade, do you remember? It was like this whole other world just came in overnight and took ours away. And Brooke, she came over. We made a snow fort... with a tunnel. And we stayed inside there all day... and it seemed so safe, like everything was okay. Like everything our world was about to become - maybe we could stop it and stay little kids for one more day. But then it got cold, kinda like now. They're gonna come now...
Lucas: Who?
Peyton: All of them. The reporters, the psychologists, the analysts and the so called experts. They're gonna try to make sense of this. But they're not going to be able to... and even if we do get out of here, we're always going to carry it with us. It's never going to be the same.

Reporter: You think America would tune in for that every night?
Brooke: Have you seen the ratings for 7th Heaven?
Reporter: We're a country obsessed with tragedy, Brooke. So, if examining tragedy makes me part of the problem, so be it. But let me ask you something... how much time have you spent with Jimmy Edwards over the last four years?
visual: Brooke says nothing.
Reporter: So maybe I'm not the only one who should be ashamed.

Haley: I have 'Current Events' this period.
Rachel: I think this counts.

Jimmy Edwards: I wanted them to leave me alone. I wanted them to like me.

(at the door)
Haley: Always --
Nathan: -- and forever.

Peyton: You're always saving me.
Lucas: Somebody has got to.

Lucas: Tell me about a good day.
Peyton: We had a snow day. Sixth grade, do you remember? It was like this whole other world just came in overnight and took ours away. Brooke, she came over and we made a snowfort ... with a tunnel. And we stayed in there all day. It seemed so safe, like everything was okay. Like everything our world was about to become, maybe we could just stop it and stay little kids for one more day. But then it got cold, kinda like now. They're gonna come now. All of them. The reporters and the psychologists and the analysts. And the so-called experts. And they're gonna try and make sense of this. But they're not gonna be able to. And even if we do make it out of here, we're always gonna carry it with us. Its never gonna be the same.

Haley: You shouldn't have come back for me. I love you for doing it but I wish you were safe.
Nathan: I don't want to be safe without you.

When Jimmy shoots the gun, he shoots it at shoulder height yet Peyton gets hit in the lower calf.

Episode Title: With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept

The episode title is the title of a song by Explosions in the Sky from their album, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Die, Those Who Tell the Truth Shall Live Forever.

Jimmy: This ain't the Breakfast Club.

The Breakfast Club is a 1980s John Hughes film about five very different students who come together and bond during a Saturday detention.

During the school shooting, Dan, since he is mayor, takes charge of the situation. However, in real life school shooting and other hostage situations, the mayor would have little if any control over what the police force does in these circumstances. Also, Dan is able to get Keith, and later himself, into the school. Again, in real life, who goes in and out of a potentially deadly situation such as a school shooting would not be decided by a town's mayor and would be closely monitored. A mayor having such authority and privileges is largely misrepresented in this episode.

With most episode titles, the lyrics of the song that the episode gets its name somehow relate to the theme of the episode. In this case the song "With Tired Eyes, Tired Minds, Tired Souls, We Slept" is an instrumental song and has no lyrics. However, the somber tone of the melody of the episode parallels the mood of this episode, so even though the song has no lyrics, the song relates to the episode and wasn't selected solely to have a fitting episode title.