Longtime Washington DC news broadcaster Leon Harris has announced he is stepping away four months after he suffered an apparent medical emergency live on air.

Harris, 63, said leaving NBC4 was a 'difficult decision' that he made because he wanted to focus on his 'health and family.'

He referenced an incident over Thanksgiving where he slurred his words and struggled to reach the end of his sentences, which led Harris to take time off from the network.

Harris never returned, and four months later, he said in his statement: 'Many of you have kindly asked about me over the past few months.

'As you know, I took time off to focus on my health and family. After 40+ years of nonstop work and the dramatic changes in the news and television industry, I’ve made the difficult decision to step away from my role at NBC4.'

Harris didn't make any further disclosures regarding his health, or if the incident that unfolded on-screen was linked to his departure.

Harris was at the local Washington DC station for eight years, and previously worked for CNN for 21 years and WJLA for 14 years.

He said he felt that leaving now was the 'right time' for him, and thanked his 'amazing colleagues, friends, and especially to our viewers who welcomed me into their homes.'

'It's been an honor, thank you.'

Harris had been open about past health issues and struggles with alcohol, including two past arrests for DUI.

He went viral at Thanksgiving for his sputtering performance live on the air, which left viewers concerned for his health as he slurred his words and appeared confused.

In the opening segment, he struggled to say several street names and began chuckling to himself after multiple slip-ups.

The newsreader's condition appeared to deteriorate throughout the two-minute piece, stumbling over words as he continued to grapple with the teleprompter.

He was taken off the air soon after, as the network turned to a weatherman to step in.

Weatherman Ryan Miller acknowledged during his time on air that the station had received 'a lot' of messages from viewers concerned about Harris' condition.

Miller said Harris was 'fine', however neither the anchor nor the station ever commented on what exactly caused the on-air issues.

Some viewers feared the episode was related to Harris' public battles with addiction, as he has spoken candidly about his past issues with alcohol.

Harris, a former anchor for CNN, made headlines 10 years ago when he was arrested for a DUI in Montgomery County, Maryland, and was handed a six-month suspended jail sentence.

In January 2022, Harris was arrested and charged again for a DUI in Montgomery County following a crash with another vehicle.

The longtime Washington DC broadcaster was driving outside of the nation's capital when he rear-ended a car, sending it into another vehicle, the Montgomery County police report said at the time.

No one was seriously injured, however when officers arrived at the scene, they found the anchor attempting to flee, police reported.

When stopped by police, Harris failed a field sobriety test and recorded a .08% BAC- twice the legal limit- during a breathalyzer test, police said.

He spent 10 days in jail and was taken off the air by NBC4 for a month while being investigated, and after receiving a one-year suspended jail sentence, he spoke candidly with viewers upon his return.

'Many of you know that I made a terrible mistake one night in January,' he said to open the broadcast.

'After drinking, I decided to get into my car and drive. This is the worst decision I could possibly have made.'

Speaking with the network soon after, he admitted: 'I thought after having about four glasses of wine I was good.. I wasn’t, nobody is going to be good after that.'

He said he was seeking daily therapy and 'embracing sobriety', and was seeing some 'very tough professionals to get control of this disease called alcoholism.'

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Former CNN host Leon Harris is arrested for 'drunk driving at TWICE the legal limit and trying to leave the scene of a crash where he rear-ended a car that went flying into another vehicle outside Washington DC'

In a career spanning 40 years, Harris was twice awarded the National Cable Ace Award for Best Anchor and won a dozen Local Emmys for his reporting and anchoring throughout the years.

In 2013, Harris shared that he experienced a life-threatening health crisis which put him in intensive care unit for two weeks and has left him with half a pancreas.

At 52 years old, he was airlifted from his home to a hospital in Baltimore, where he was diagnosed him with acute necrotizing pancreatitis.

His condition was life-threatening as his pancreas was inflamed and starting to die, which in turn had caused his kidneys to start to fail and his lungs were filling with fluid.

The head of trauma at the Baltimore hospital described Harris' CT scan as ‘looking if a bomb had gone off… where the pancreas resides.’

While on a ventilator, his heart stopped on two different days and he was technically dead. But then the pancreatitis subsided just as quickly as it came on and after five weeks, Harris was back on the air.

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