Respected media strategist Gordon Patterson has been shot dead.

News of his death broke on Twitter‚ and was confirmed by his colleagues at Omnicom‚ where he was business director‚ Business Day reported on Friday.Unconfirmed reports said Patterson was shot in his driveway in a botched hijacking.Patterson was a stalwart of the advertising and media industry in South Africa‚ where he worked for more than 25 years. At the time of his death he was on the board of the Audit Bureau of Circulation‚ and was vice-chairman of Advertising Media Association of South Africa.He also served on the print subcommittee of the South African Audience Research Foundation‚ which carries out major media surveys such as AMPS and RAMS.Patterson’s previous corporate roles included MD of SMV Group and chairman of Vivaki South Africa.According to the ABC website‚ he was also a former chairman of the Media Directors Circle and a founding director of the AMF in SA‚ in which he still held a directorship at the time of his death. Shocked & saddened by the news of Gordon Patterson's death. Huge loss for the SA media industry. Our condolences to his family @Assoc_Media— Julia Raphaely (@GilaCT) July 22, 2016ssTerribly sad to hear of the murder of Gordon Patterson in an attempted hi-jacking last night. A terrible loss to South Africa #RIP— chris borain (@cebastian) July 22, 2016ssMore tragic news this week. Very sad to hear of the passing of Gordon Patterson. RIP. You did a lot for our industry and you will be missed!— Richard Lord (@rlord182) July 22, 2016ssI was in a meeting w/ Gordon Patterson just a few weeks go. Deepest condolences to his family from all of us at @Powerfm987 & @CapricornFM— Andile Khumalo (@Andile_Khumalo) July 22, 2016ss..