diff --git a/cmd/ctr/kill.go b/cmd/ctr/kill.go
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..1accd88
--- /dev/null
+++ b/cmd/ctr/kill.go
@@ -0,0 +1,115 @@
+package main
+
+import (
+	gocontext "context"
+	"fmt"
+	"strconv"
+	"strings"
+	"syscall"
+
+	"github.com/containerd/containerd/api/services/execution"
+	"github.com/pkg/errors"
+	"github.com/urfave/cli"
+)
+
+var signalMap = map[string]syscall.Signal{
+	"ABRT":   syscall.SIGABRT,
+	"ALRM":   syscall.SIGALRM,
+	"BUS":    syscall.SIGBUS,
+	"CHLD":   syscall.SIGCHLD,
+	"CLD":    syscall.SIGCLD,
+	"CONT":   syscall.SIGCONT,
+	"FPE":    syscall.SIGFPE,
+	"HUP":    syscall.SIGHUP,
+	"ILL":    syscall.SIGILL,
+	"INT":    syscall.SIGINT,
+	"IO":     syscall.SIGIO,
+	"IOT":    syscall.SIGIOT,
+	"KILL":   syscall.SIGKILL,
+	"PIPE":   syscall.SIGPIPE,
+	"POLL":   syscall.SIGPOLL,
+	"PROF":   syscall.SIGPROF,
+	"PWR":    syscall.SIGPWR,
+	"QUIT":   syscall.SIGQUIT,
+	"SEGV":   syscall.SIGSEGV,
+	"STKFLT": syscall.SIGSTKFLT,
+	"STOP":   syscall.SIGSTOP,
+	"SYS":    syscall.SIGSYS,
+	"TERM":   syscall.SIGTERM,
+	"TRAP":   syscall.SIGTRAP,
+	"TSTP":   syscall.SIGTSTP,
+	"TTIN":   syscall.SIGTTIN,
+	"TTOU":   syscall.SIGTTOU,
+	"UNUSED": syscall.SIGUNUSED,
+	"URG":    syscall.SIGURG,
+	"USR1":   syscall.SIGUSR1,
+	"USR2":   syscall.SIGUSR2,
+	"VTALRM": syscall.SIGVTALRM,
+	"WINCH":  syscall.SIGWINCH,
+	"XCPU":   syscall.SIGXCPU,
+	"XFSZ":   syscall.SIGXFSZ,
+}
+
+var killCommand = cli.Command{
+	Name:  "kill",
+	Usage: "signal a container",
+	Flags: []cli.Flag{
+		cli.StringFlag{
+			Name:  "id",
+			Usage: "id of the container",
+		},
+		cli.BoolFlag{
+			Name:  "all, a",
+			Usage: "send signal to all processes inside the container",
+		},
+	},
+	Action: func(context *cli.Context) error {
+		id := context.String("id")
+		if id == "" {
+			return errors.New("container id must be provided")
+		}
+
+		sigstr := context.Args().First()
+		if sigstr == "" {
+			sigstr = "SIGTERM"
+		}
+
+		signal, err := parseSignal(sigstr)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+
+		containers, err := getExecutionService(context)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		killRequest := &execution.KillRequest{
+			ID:     id,
+			Signal: uint32(signal),
+			All:    context.Bool("all"),
+		}
+		_, err = containers.Kill(gocontext.Background(), killRequest)
+		if err != nil {
+			return err
+		}
+		return nil
+	},
+}
+
+func parseSignal(rawSignal string) (syscall.Signal, error) {
+	s, err := strconv.Atoi(rawSignal)
+	if err == nil {
+		sig := syscall.Signal(s)
+		for _, msig := range signalMap {
+			if sig == msig {
+				return sig, nil
+			}
+		}
+		return -1, fmt.Errorf("unknown signal %q", rawSignal)
+	}
+	signal, ok := signalMap[strings.TrimPrefix(strings.ToUpper(rawSignal), "SIG")]
+	if !ok {
+		return -1, fmt.Errorf("unknown signal %q", rawSignal)
+	}
+	return signal, nil
+}
diff --git a/cmd/ctr/main.go b/cmd/ctr/main.go
index 8c10a64..89c5912 100644
--- a/cmd/ctr/main.go
+++ b/cmd/ctr/main.go
@@ -52,6 +52,7 @@ containerd client
 		deleteCommand,
 		listCommand,
 		infoCommand,
+		killCommand,
 		shimCommand,
 		pprofCommand,
 	}