Omnipause neurons (OPNs) in the nucleus raphe interpositus have tonic activity while the eyes are stationary (‘fixation’), but stop firing immediately before and during saccades. To locate the suppression’s source, we analyzed synaptic inputs from the rostral and caudal superior colliculi (SCs) to OPNs by using intracellular recording and staining, and investigated pathways transmitting the inputs in anesthetized cats of both sexes. Electrophysiologically- or morphologically-identified OPNs received monosynaptic excitation from the rostral SCs with contralateral dominance, and received disynaptic inhibition from the caudal SCs with ipsilateral dominance. Cutting the tectoreticular tract transversely between the contralateral OPN and inhibitory burst neuron (IBN) regions eliminated inhibition from the caudal SCs, but not excitation from the rostral SCs in OPNs. In contrast, a midline section between IBN regions eliminated disynaptic inhibition in OPNs from the caudal SCs, but did not affect the monosynaptic...